Landscape with Shepherds

Under the influence of the Roman, Ribera experimented briefly with a new type of painting, the landscape. The Landscape with Shepherds is a splendid example of his landscapes. Ribera often included simple if evocative vistas in his backgrounds, which consist of little but distant mountains under a limpid, blue sky streaked with cirrus clouds. In these extensive landscapes of 1639, he creates compositions of a powerful simplicity and compelling atmosphere which imply a knowledge of landscape painting in Rome. Ribera does not truly imitate Claude and his followers, but rather applies their warm effects of light to the sterner, architectonic compositions of the Bolognese practitioners, such as Carracci and Domenichino. This synthesis is new and original, and provided the initial inspiration to Salvator Rosa, who was then just starting his career in Naples.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 13 minutes): Franz Schubert: Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The Shepherd on the Rock) D 965