- Probably sale Oberman et al., Amsterdam (De Vries, Roos), 31 March 1846, lot 62, sold to Roos (with lot 61, pendant: ‘een jonge Herder, met een roode muts op het hoofd, houdende in de rechter hand een blad muzijk, van hetwelck hij schijnt te zingen, terwijl hij met zijn linker hand op zijn staf leunt; [...] paneel, 75 x 60 duim’)

- Probably sale J.F. Martinet et al., Amsterdam (De Vries, Roos), 16 November 1853, lot 218, sold to Roos (for fl. 80, with pendant: ‘Een arcadische Herder […] paneel, 73 x 59 duim’)

- Probably sale, Amsterdam, 26 April 1854, lot 28 (with a pendant: ‘Een Arcadische Herder, met een blad muzijk in de rechterhand en een staf in de linker […] paneel’)

- With Gebroeders Douwes, Amsterdam, 1973

- Private collection, United Kingdom, 1984

- With Gebroeders Douwes, Amsterdam, 1984

- G. Daleboudt, Nijkerk

- With Gebroeders Douwes, Amsterdam, 1985-88, from whom acquired by the below

- Eric Albada Jelgersma, Belgium

- Delft, Museum Het Prinsenhof, 25e Oude Kunst- en Antiekbeurs: der Vereeniging van Handelaren in Oude Kunst in Nederland, 1973, p. 103, ill.

- New York, Christopher Janet, 1984, nr. 8a

- ‘Gebr. Douwes. zes generaties in aparte schilderijen’, Kunstbeeld (1984), October, p. 19, ill.

- E.N. Domela Nieuwenhuis, Paulus Moreelse (1571-1638), diss. University of Leiden, 2001, pp. 618-19, nr. SAH207

Although Moreelse was first and foremost a highly sought-after portrait painter in his native Utrecht, it is really his single-figure images of shepherdesses that now count as the most appealing part of his output. He can even be credited with the introduction of this very subgenre into the Netherlands. His earliest known painting of this type is dated 1617.[i] Moreelse’s sources of inspiration were probably sixteenth-century Venetian scenes of courtesans by such artists as Paris Bordone, Palma Vecchio and Titian.[ii] Some scholars also point to half-length figures of half-nude female characters, such as the penitent Mary Magdalen or Lucretia.[iii] Moreelse will have had ample opportunity to study them during his sojourn in Italy sometime before 1596. However, the impetus for such subject matter was certainly also literary. While Arcadian and pastoral texts had circulated throughout Western Europe in the preceding centuries, they were first published in the Low Countries in the early 1600s. Well-known and influential was Pieter Cornelisz Hooft’s play Granida, which investigates the duality between idealistic love and blatant eroticism. Published in 1615, Granida inspired many artists, also Moreelse.

About twenty shepherdesses by Moreelse are still known today, the one in the Rijksmuseum being the most famous.[iv] Most of these shepherdesses flaunt plunging necklines. The present is dressed decently and set somewhat further back from the picture plane but her gaze is nonetheless seductive and engaging. The undefined background furthermore enhances the figure’s presence. Like some other shepherdesses in Moreelse’s oeuvre, this one also wears a veil, while others wear the more customary straw hat or beret. The bright and subtle colouring of this painting sets it especially apart among Moreelse’s other versions of the subject, which often feature dark backgrounds. This shepherdess is the only known single female figure by Moreelse holding a musical instrument, as observed by Eric Domela Nieuwenhuis.

Like some of Moreelse’s other shepherdesses, this one probably also originally had a male counterpart, which appears to be lost.[v] The States of Utrecht gave such a, still-preserved, pair of paintings by Moreelse to stadholder Frederick Henry’s wife Amalia van Solms in 1627, testifying to their popularity with the highest circles.[vi]

Moreelse was not only a respected artist, but also worked as an architect and urban planner. Born in Utrecht to a wealthy family from Louvain, he studied in Delft with the leading portrait painter Michiel van Mierevelt. In Italy, where Moreelse stayed next for an extended period, he was already in demand as a portrait painter though none of these early works have come down to us, his earliest dated painting being from 1602. Together with his esteemed colleague Abraham Bloemaert, Moreelse founded a painters’ guild in their hometown Utrecht, for which institution he was to serve as dean for many years (1612, 1615 and 1619). With 28 recorded pupils, among them Dirck van Baburen, Moreelse’s studio must have been busy and thriving. Moreelse was deeply involved in the city’s civic life, joining the town council in 1618 and later supporting the founding of the city’s university. These activities certainly also helped advance his artistic career, furnishing him with many a prestigious commission.

Notes