Elegant Shepherdess Listening to a Shepherd Playing the Recorder in an Arcadian Landscape, Govert Flinck (1654)
Govaert Flinck’s depiction of an amorous shepherd and shepherdess in the warm, evening light of a rolling landscape captures the lyrical character of the Dutch pastoral tradition.1 The shepherd, dressed in a burnt umber robe, calf-high sandals, and a floppy brown hat, plays a recorder as he gazes longingly at the shepherdess seated beside him.2 She returns her lover’s gaze with a coy, sideways glance, while placing a rose on her garland of flowers. Her arm barely conceals the plunging neckline of her bodice, which she wears over a voluminous, blue satin skirt. A lamb grazes near the pair’s feet, while the rest of the flock is visible beyond the shady enclosure of the trees.
