{"id":431,"date":"2021-05-15T17:18:43","date_gmt":"2021-05-15T17:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/early-modern-dutch-prints\/?page_id=431"},"modified":"2021-05-16T18:10:49","modified_gmt":"2021-05-16T18:10:49","slug":"man-riding-a-donkey-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/early-modern-dutch-prints\/man-riding-a-donkey-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Riding a Donkey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Man Riding a Donkey<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

ARTIST: Nicolaes Berchem the Elder (Dutch, 1620 \u2013 1683)
DATE: 1644
TECHNIQUE: Etching<\/a>
DIMENSIONS: Image: 17.5 x 19.3 cm, Paper Size: 18.9 x 20.3 cm
STATE<\/a>: II\/III
WATERMARK<\/a>: Partial crown, not identified
SIGNATURE: \u201cCBerghem 1644\u201d
CATALOGUE REFERENCE: Hollstein Dutch 5-2(3), Bartsch 5
CREDIT LINE: Gift of an anonymous donor
COLLECTOR\u2019S MARK<\/a>: \u201cJL,\u201d unidentified
OBJECT NUMBER: 1973.052<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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With his legs draped to one side, the protagonist in Nicolaes Berchem\u2019s Man Riding a Donkey <\/em>demonstrates the docile nature of his animal and the relative ease of riding. He peers behind him at a woman, perhaps his wife, who carries a basket atop her head and pulls two sheep along. The donkey noses two more sheep ahead of him, while a cluster has decided to rest in the dust on the roadside. Inspired by the Italian countryside, the rolling and faintly etched hills reflect the simplicity of the shepherds\u2019 idealized lifestyle. The animals support this theme through their actions by lazily meandering and lying peacefully in the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A prolific and multitalented artist, Berchem painted and drew many landscapes, night scenes, battles, seascapes, and historical subjects. In his printmaking, Berchem solely used etching to create his primary subject matter of shepherds and their livestock within idyllic Italian settings. While Cornelis Dusart (1660\u20131704) stereotyped the rowdy behavior of rural workers in The Village Fair,<\/a> <\/em>Berchem and other Dutch Italianate artists romanticized the simplicity and humility of country life. Berchem upheld this treatment of his subjects throughout his artistic career, but in his later etchings he pushes the main figures to the back of his compositions, devoting more attention to the shapes and textures of the landscapes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This impression represents the second state out of three, identifiable by the faint clouds in the sky that were only added after the first state. In the final state, the sky is heavily reworked in what Hollstein describes as a \u201cstrange hand,\u201d likely either a pupil within Berchem\u2019s workshop or another artist. Created after his first Animalia <\/em>series<\/a>, also featured in this catalogue, Man Riding a Donkey <\/em>was Berchem\u2019s first individual print. A collector\u2019s mark on the back of the paper features the initials \u201cJR,\u201d but cannot be linked with a known collector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Thomas Dowd, edited by Simone Edgar Holmes <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Bibliography<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hollstein, F.W.H. Hollstein\u2019s Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings, and Woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700 Vol. VI<\/em>. Amsterdam: Hertzberger, 1952.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kilian, Jennifer M. \u201cBerchem [Berghem; Berighem; Berrighem], Nicolaes.\u201d Grove Art Online<\/em>. 2003. https:\/\/www-oxfordartonline-com.ezproxy.middlebury.edu\/groveart\/view\/10.1093\/gao\/9781884446054.001.0001\/oao-9781884446054-e-7000008022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wuestmen, Gerdien. \u201cBerchem as an etcher: Effortless, accomplished and peerless.\u201d In Nicolaes Berchem: In the Light of Italy<\/em>. Edited by Karel Schampers. Haarlem: Ludion, 2006. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Man Riding a Donkey ARTIST: Nicolaes Berchem the Elder (Dutch, 1620 \u2013 1683)DATE: 1644TECHNIQUE: EtchingDIMENSIONS: Image: 17.5 x 19.3 cm, Paper Size: 18.9 x 20.3 cmSTATE: II\/IIIWATERMARK: Partial crown, not identifiedSIGNATURE: \u201cCBerghem 1644\u201dCATALOGUE REFERENCE: Hollstein Dutch 5-2(3), Bartsch 5CREDIT LINE: Gift of an anonymous donorCOLLECTOR\u2019S MARK: \u201cJL,\u201d unidentifiedOBJECT NUMBER: 1973.052 With his legs draped to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-431","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/early-modern-dutch-prints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/early-modern-dutch-prints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/early-modern-dutch-prints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/early-modern-dutch-prints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/early-modern-dutch-prints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/early-modern-dutch-prints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":481,"href":"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/early-modern-dutch-prints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/431\/revisions\/481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/early-modern-dutch-prints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}