Sheep and Dogs

Eugene Joseph Verboeckhoven 1799 - 1881

Summary

On a high moorland, a pair of sheepdogs keeps watch over two sheep with their lambs. Below them, the mountain pasture is covered with grazing sheep. Verboeckhoven trained at the academy in Ghent, becoming a pupil in 1818 of Balthazar Paul Ommeganck (1725-1826), whose classical landscape style informed his early work. From the mid 1820s, he turned to the naturalistic painting of different breeds of animals, inspired by the work of the great Dutch animal painter Paulus Potter (1625-1654). He was mainly active in Brussels. Here, the precipitous landscape plays a significant role in the narrative, encouraging the notion that the dogs' role is essential to the wellbeing of their charges in the absence of any human shepherd. The lambs nestle calmly, and the nearest dog and ewe show great awareness of one another, enhancing the idea of a caring and trusting relationship.