Portretten van Amalia van Solms en Maria Henrietta Stuart, beiden als herderin 1640

Crispijn van de Passe II created these engraved portraits of Amalia van Solms and Maria Henrietta Stuart, both as shepherdesses. Observe the visual language of pastoral idealism, where courtly figures are cloaked in the guise of rural simplicity. Amalia holds an olive branch, a symbol of peace and abundance deeply rooted in classical antiquity and frequently used to evoke ideas of harmony and prosperity. These motifs are not confined to this era. We find echoes of this pastoral symbolism in earlier Roman art and later in 18th-century Rococo paintings, demonstrating the enduring appeal of the shepherdess as a symbol of virtuous simplicity and a romanticized vision of nature. The shepherdess, thus, is more than a mere aesthetic choice; she is an archetype, a vessel carrying layers of cultural memory that resurface across centuries. The image's psychological power lies in its ability to evoke a sense of longing for an idealized past, a collective dream of harmony and innocence.