Matthäus Merian (1593 Basel - 1650 Langenschwalbach) Surrounding area Village by a river with a shepherd blowing his horn View of a hilly village landscape with picturesque houses, in the lower left corner the shepherd with a herd of cows. The composition, executed predominantly in shades of blue and grey, with its deep spatial aerial perspective, is based on an etching by Matthäus Merian the Elder, which he created in Basel and which was published in 1620-1622 by the publisher Peter Aubry (II) in Strasbourg. The model for Merian was again a drawing by Anton Mirou (1578 - before 1627) made in 1617, which is preserved in the Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (inv. no. KdZ 12095) and which comes from the comprehensive, well-known series of drawings from his "Schwalbacher Reise". Merian realised this drawing with great attention to detail and inverted due to the printing process; it was part of the successful series of prints entitled "Large Landscapes after Anton Mirou and Paul Bril". In the 17th century, such prints (after Mirou and Gillis van Coninxloo) formed the starting point for colourful translations in painting, which were modelled on the style of the great masters. This included the "Village by the River with a Shepherd Blowing a Horn", which was copied in several paintings. Mixed media (watercolour, gouache and pen and ink)/paper. 32 cm x 31.5 cm. Frame. Cf. Jörg Diefenbacher: "Anton Mirou (...)", 2007, pp. 30-32 with illus. of the Merian print and a painting after Merian/Mirou in the museum in Frankenthal. Circle of Matthäus Merian the Elder (1593 - 1650). Mixed media on paper. After an engraving by Matthäus Merian (after a drawing by Anton Mirou), published 1620-1622.