The Small Dort by Aelbert Cuyp (1650-2) ✎

This painting by Aelbert Cuyp is a twin of The Large Dort & also in the National Gallery’s collection.

As with my post on The Large Dort, we see the quintessentials of the Dutch Baroque painter - pastoral landscapes, animals, and a view of Dordrecht. 

The National Gallery though argues that there are some differences which suggest this particular painting depicts the end of the day:

The mood is more soporific than in the larger version, however. The sky seems slightly less luminous, the sun is lower and more of the painting is in shadow. Three of the cows seem to be on the verge of sleep, while the herdsman and the dog have already dropped off. The day’s labour, it seems, is over. But a similar sense of ease and contentment prevails. And Cuyp has used the same subtle sequence of pictorial planes to knit together the composition, from the dark foreground of weeds and brambles to the light-dappled cows, the shadowy cottages and windmills, then Dordrecht itself, bathed in the evening light.

For me, I prefer The Large Dort. 👌

The Large Dort by Aelbert Cuyp (1691) ✎

A beautiful masterpiece by Aelbert Cuyp.

Aelbert Cuyp was part of the Dutch Golden Age and painted these magnificent arcadian landscapes, often with dignified and heroic-looking cattle and cows.

His paintings are important to art history because - as with the Dutch Golden Age more generally - they laid the stylistic foundations which would be v. influential to the British landscape artists of the 18th and 19th-century, and romanticism.

He was also influenced by the “Dutch Italianate” painters. It was an art movement, inspired by their Italian travels, to infuse the painting with  a warm, soft and golden light - that you might see in the early misty morning hours.

I just think you could look at this painting for ages, and enjoy yourself.

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Cattle have so often in art history represented wealth, safety and plenty. The four cows and milkmaid celebrate the Dutch wellbeing and the peace associated with their land - especially after the eighty-years-war. So, the Dutch cow is a hero.

The way the light and shadow interacts with the cow is incredible. 

The “Dort” stands for his hometown Dordrecht, in the background.