17th Century Dutch Old Master Circle of Nicolaes Berchem Oil on Panel Landscape with Goats. Antique Dutch oil on canvas painting depicting a rural field under a tree, with a herd of lounging goats. Unsigned. Framed.

Condition: Craquelure throughout.

Overall Size: 10 1/2 x 14 1/4 x 2 3/4 in.
Sight Size: 4 1/4 x 6 in.

Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem (October 1, 1620 – February 18, 1683) was a prominent Dutch Golden Age painter best known for his idyllic, sunlit pastoral landscapes in the Italianate style. Born in Haarlem to the still-life painter Pieter Claesz, he trained under several notable artists including Jan van Goyen and Jan Wils. Though there is no definitive record of travel to Italy, Berchem’s work reflects a deep engagement with Italian light and scenery, often depicting golden dawns, classical ruins, herders, and livestock in imagined southern landscapes. He was highly prolific, creating around 800 paintings along with numerous drawings and etchings. Berchem also collaborated with other artists, contributing figures and animals to the landscapes of contemporaries like Jacob van Ruisdael and Meindert Hobbema. As a teacher, he influenced a generation of Dutch painters, including Karel Dujardin and Jacob Ochtervelt. His warm palette and romantic compositions later inspired European artists of the French Rococo and English landscape traditions, including Watteau and Gainsborough.