NICOLAES PIETERSZ. BERCHEM (Haarlem 1620-1683 Amsterdam) Mediterranean landscape at sunset with shepherds and ruins. Oil on canvas. Signed lower left: Berchem f. 73.1 × 99.7 cm. Provenance: - Lucas Merens Collection (1698-1776), mayor of Hoorn and director of the Dutch East India Company. - Auction Ploos van Amstel and Jan Yver, Amsterdam, 15.4.1778, lot 175a. - Collection Cornelis Ploos van Amstel (1726-1798), Amsterdam. - Collection J. T. Batt, New Hall, Salisbury, 1834. - By inheritance or sale in New Hall to Major-General Buckley, 1853. - Probably by inheritance to Alfred Buckley (1829-1900), 1883. - Christie's auction, London, 4 May 1901, lot 24. - Art dealer P. & D. Colnaghi, London. - Auction Christie's, London, 18 March 1955, lot 149. - Art dealer Hans Cramer, The Hague, until 1964. - Collection A. Sutter, Mannheim, from 1965 until after 1978. - German private collection, acquired shortly after 1978 and certainly owned until 1994. - Auction Sotheby's, London, 7.12.2005, lot 13. - European private collection. Exhibitions: - London 1853, British Institution, Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch French and English Masters, with which the proprietors have favoured the institution, June 1853, no. 75 (loan from Major-General Buckley). - London 1883, Royal Academy, Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters and by deceased masters of the Brithish School; including a special selection from the works of John Linnell and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1 Jan. - 10 Mar. 1883, no. 239 (loan from A. Buckley). - Utrecht 1965, Nederlands 17 eeuwse Italianiserende Landschapschilders, Centraalmuseum, 10.3-30.5.1965, no. 85. - Madrid 1994, The Golden Age of Dutch Landscape Painting, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, 11 November-12 February 1994, no. 9. - London 2002, Inspired by Italy. Dutch landscape painting 1600-1700, Dulwich Picture Gallery, 22 May-26 August 2002, no. 31. - Haarlem/Schwerin/Zurich 2006/2007, Nicolaes Berchem. In the Light of Italy, Frans Hals Museum, 16.12.2006-15.4.2007 / Schwerin, Staatliches Museum, 27.4.-19.8.2007 / Kunsthaus Zürich, 1.9.-2.12.2007, no. 31. - Haarlem 2008/2009, De Gouden eeuw begint in Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, 11 October 2008-1 February 2009. Literature: - John Smith: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters, London 1834, vol. V, p. 81, no. 252. - Algernon Graves: A Century of Loan Exhibitions 1813-1912, London 1913, vol. I, pp. 60 and 62. - Cornelis Hofstede de Groot: Descriptive and Critical Catalogue of Works, Esslingen/Paris 1926, vol. IX, p. 179, no. 449. - Notable Works of Art now on the Market, in: The Burlington Magazine, June 1957, vol. XCIX, no. 651, ill. pl. IX. - Eckhard Schaar: Studies on Nicolaes Berchem, dissertation, Cologne 1958, p. 69. - Albert Blankert: Nederlandse 17e Eeuwse Italianiserende Landschapschilders, Soest 1978, pp. 162-63, no. 83, ill. pl. 85. - Peter Sutton, in: exhib. cat. The Golden Age of Dutch Landscape Painting, Madrid 1994, p. 80, no. 83 (with illus.). - Laurie Harwood, in: exhib. cat. Inspired by Italy. Dutch landscape painting 1600-1700, London 2002, p. 140, no. 31, with illus. p. 141. - Pieter Biesboer and Luuk Pijl, in: Pieter Biesboer (ed.), Nicolaes Berchem. In the Light of Italy, exhib. cat. Haarlem / Schwerin / Zurich, Haarlem 2006, pp. 24, 140-41, no. 31, with ill. p. 65. - Pieter Biesboer: De Gouden eeuw begint in Haarlem, exhib. cat. Haarlem 2008, pp. 70-71 and 177, fig. 45. - Pieter Biesboer: Frans Hals and Haarlem's Masters of the Golden Age, exhib. cat., Munich 2008, pp. 70-71, ill. p. 70, fig. 45. Paradoxically, Nicolaes Berchem, the master of Italian landscapes with rustic, rural figural staffages, probably never travelled to Italy, which seems almost incomprehensible in view of the authentic Mediterranean flair conveyed in this painting. The Italianate style of the landscapes, as painted by Berchem from the 1640s onwards, was probably strongly influenced by the two artists Jan Both (around 1615-1652) and Jan Asselijn (1610-1652). Berchem adopted the golden light after the southern midday heat in particular from the two aforementioned painters, but largely surpassed them in the loose and lively depiction of the figures and the livestock. A nice comparison can be found in the work by Jan Asselijn entitled "Muleteers beside an Italian Ruin", which is on display in the Rijksmuseum (inv. no. SK-C-89). Berchem developed his atmospheric lighting to his characteristic perfection, creating a dramatic tension between light and shadow in the present painting. The maturity of the artist, which is reflected in the composition and atmosphere, is also evident in Pieter Biesboer's dating of the work to the period between 1655 and 1660. Although he devoted himself to various genres during his creative phase, his landscapes in the Italian style brought him the greatest fame, enabling him to finance a feudal life in Amsterdam through his painting. Like many Dutch painters who were enthusiastic about Italy, Nicolaes Berchem integrated ancient Roman ruins into his works, which, as in our picture, emphasise the transfiguration and idealisation of Italian history. The hidden Dutch features in the landscape design merge with the Roman buildings and result in a monumental recreation, which is, however, contrasted by the simplicity of the rural subject and gains an appealing rustic character. These objects marked with * (asterisk) are fully subject to VAT, i.e. VAT will be charged on the hammer price plus buyer's premium. 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