A Shepherd with his Flock in a Woody Landscape

Like many of Rubens's landscapes on wood, this one grew as he painted it, sometime between about 1615 and 1622. He began with the central section, then added narrower panels at each side, widening the view to take in more of the trees and the dawn breaking far off. We look down from a height onto a rocky bank above a quiet stream. A young shepherd leans on his crook and glances back over his shoulder. Behind him a single curved plank is slung across the water as a bridge. The sun falls brightest on the flock, yet the eye goes first to the boy's red jacket in the shade. Rubens drew roots, stones and trees out of doors and used those drawings later in the studio, which is why the bark, pebbles and wool here are so exact.