Peasants and Cattle by the River Merwede

Just outside Dordrecht, on the bank of the Merwede, stood a castle built in the 14th century, the Huis te Merwede. By Cuyp's time it had been a ruin for about two centuries, and he painted it more than once. Here it is far off in the distance, its broken walls against the sky. In front, two cowherds stand with their cattle in the low sun by the water, and a horseman has just ridden past. Cuyp borrowed that warm glow from the Dutch painters of Italian landscapes and laid it over country that is plainly Dutch. The panel dates from around 1658 to 1660 and is signed A. cuyp at the lower right. It belongs to the National Gallery in London, which calls it Peasants with Four Cows by the River Merwede, and has been on loan to the Mauritshuis since 2007. The ruin itself still stands on the edge of Dordrecht.