Drie liggende schapen 1822 - 1899

Simon van den Berg made this etching, "Three Lying Sheep," sometime in the mid-19th century. The image presents a bucolic scene of farm animals resting, yet it also reflects broader cultural and economic shifts happening in the Netherlands at the time. In the 19th century, the Netherlands was undergoing agricultural reforms, with an increased focus on livestock breeding. Pictures of animals such as this one were part of a wider trend in Dutch art, reflecting a national interest in rural life and agricultural progress. Animal imagery was hugely popular with the rising middle class, and art institutions catered to this taste. To truly understand this unassuming pastoral image, we might consider the economic history of Dutch agriculture and the social function of animal portraiture. The print is now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, where its cultural value continues to evolve.