French school (XVIII-XIX) - Pastorale con animali e viandanti

Oil on canvas from the 18th-19th century
screen. 66.5 x 60 x 2.5 cm
Cornice. 77 x 70.5 x 6 cm.

Description of the work

Travelers in a pastoral landscape with animals
Technique: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 66.5 x 60 cm (canvas only)
Cornice: Not contemporary, of 19th-century or Baroque type.
Presumed date: second half of the 18th or beginning of the 19th century.
Painting school: Franco-Flemish or central-northern Italian area (Venetian and northern influences).
Conservation state: Good, with restorations or touch-ups visible in some areas.


The work depicts a scene of pastoral life. A family on a journey – a shepherd in the center of the scene tending to the animals, a woman sitting with a child in her arms, and other animals, such as a goat, a dog, and sheep, filling the scene. The man guides the group with a staff, while the woman exhibits a maternal caring attitude. The rocky landscape on the right side and the clear sky in the background add depth and serenity to the composition.

Stylistic features
Naturalistic traits, but with decorative details in the donkey's harness and drapery.

Warm colors, shaped by diffuse ambient light with veils of blue as if reflecting the color of the sky.

Provenance: family inheritance