A Herdsman with Five Cows by a River

This small, evocative painting shows the work of Aelbert Cuyp at the peak of his maturity as an artist. It's a picture full of light and reflections, transforming a simple view of a river at evening time into visual harmony.

Light puffy clouds lit by the evening sun drift overhead, leaving patches of shimmering water below that carry almost perfect reflections of boats, animals and distant trees. In a country greatly dependent on its cattle for its wealth, Cuyp has brought these magnificent beasts close to us, giving them as much character as - and much more significance than - the people around them.

Several Dutch artists who had been to Italy painted landscapes full of the soft light of the Mediterranean. Cuyp was probably the most important of the artists to be influenced by their work. He transferred this distinctive light to his Dutch scenes, giving them the soft radiance you see here.

Credit: Bought, 1871