Landscape with a Resting Herd

Signed and dated work of Johann Heinrich Roos, initially from the collection of Josef Hoser, ranks among the paintings capturing the so-called pastoral idyl. It aims at the most intimate depiction of the scene, capturing the close relation between people and their animals. The pyramidal composition focuses on the front plane. The core of the painting is formed by the restsing figure of a female bagpipe-player in the centre, close to a torso of an obelisk and disintegrating architectural remains. The bagpipe-player is surrounded by resting cows and sheep, a donkey is standing at her feet. On the left, a view of a valley opens up. The front plane of the painting remains seemingly empty. However, it is filled with a distinct triangular shadow, repeated on the architectural ruins in the middle plane, which naturally closes the composition. At the same time, the two shadows provide a key how to read the composition. The painting already aims at deepening and extending the space of the front plane, which had gradually turned into a spatial stage. Roos had followed the works of Karl Dujardin from the 1660s.