Herder met een os en kalf bij een dorp

About this artwork

verzamelaarsmerk, verso linksonder, gestempeld: Lugt 10

Art Historical Context

Karel du Jardin’s 1658 etching *Herder met een os en kalf bij een dorp* captures a tranquil pastoral moment typical of Dutch Golden Age art. A herdsman tends an ox and calf beside a modest village, evoking the era’s fascination with harmonious rural life. Du Jardin, who spent time in Italy, infused his Dutch scenes with Italianate light and atmosphere, blending realism with poetic idealization. The medium of etching was especially well suited to such subjects. Its fine, flexible lines allowed the artist to render the animals’ textures, foliage, and distant architecture with remarkable delicacy and depth. Measuring roughly 20 by 17 centimeters, the print’s intimate scale invites close viewing, rewarding the eye with subtle tonal gradations achieved through careful biting of the copper plate. A collector’s stamp (Lugt 10) on the verso further enriches the sheet’s history, reminding us that works like this circulated among connoisseurs for centuries. Today it offers visitors a vivid glimpse into seventeenth-century Dutch appreciation for nature, husbandry, and the quiet poetry of everyday landscapes.

About the Artist

Karel du Jardin · 1626–1678

Karel Dujardin, born in Amsterdam on September 27, 1626, was the son of the little-known painter Guilliam du Gardin. His early training came under the guidance of Nicolaes Berchem, a master whose influence is evident in Dujardin's animal and landscape depictions, while he was also inspired by the works of Paulus Potter. As a young artist, Dujardin traveled to Italy, where he immersed himself in th...