Twee rustende herders met schapen onder een boom 1769

Jean-Baptiste Leprince made this drawing, "Two Resting Shepherds with Sheep under a Tree," using brush in gray ink and gray wash. It is a pastoral scene which reflects the 18th-century French elite's fascination with idealized rural life, a notion far removed from the actual hardships faced by the peasantry. Leprince, who spent time in Russia, brings a unique perspective to this well-worn trope. The shepherds, rendered with a certain anonymity, seem to blend into the landscape, becoming one with the sheep and goats they tend. This can be seen as a commentary on the social hierarchy of the time, where individual identities were often subsumed by class and labor. Their rest, under the shade of a tree, offers a moment of respite, but also hints at the cyclical nature of their work. Ultimately, the drawing invites us to reflect on the complex relationship between humans and nature, and between the powerful and the powerless. It is a reminder that even in moments of apparent tranquility, the echoes of social and economic disparity persist.