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Three Resting Cows

Three Cows RestingThree cows are resting with two shepherds in the shade of a tree. A sheep is depicted in the bottom righthand corner, while a goat appears behind the cows. As in many of these Italianate landscapes, the scene is lit by a low, evening sun. In the hazy distance looms the outline of the mountains.

Perhaps this was a landscape Nicolaes Berchem had seen in Italy. Even so, the picture was not drawn directly from nature. He borrowed two of the cows from a print made by Paulus Potter in 1643. Potter, who specialised in depicting animals, placed his cows in a typically Dutch landscape, while Berchem preferred a more southerly countryside.

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Pond with Three Cows and a Crescent Moon – (Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot – circa 1850)

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Peasant with Three Cows – (Paul Serusier – 1893)