A Pastoral Landscape with Shepherds Playing a Viola and Panpipes

Albrecht Dürer, 1496/1497

This is an ornate manuscript page. The manuscript is adorned with decorative borders featuring floral patterns at the top of the page and a large letter "A" embellished with vines. The text, written in Greek, is in the center of the page. Below the script, the painting depicts a pastoral landscape. On the lower left, a seated man with a brown beard plays a stringed instrument, resembling a viola or a lute, while on the lower right, another person clad in blue plays panpipes. Surrounding them are various animals including sheep and goats on top of small green hills with a small river in the center. Trees rise along the sides of the page, and two small coats of arms hang from branches on either side.
Artist
Albrecht Dürer
Date
1496/1497
Type
Drawing
Medium
watercolor and gouache heightened with pen and ink and gold, pasted back onto page 1 of "Idylls and Other Texts"
Dimensions
31 × 20.3 cm
Collection
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Licence
Public domain, CC0

Image description

This is an ornate manuscript page. The manuscript is adorned with decorative borders featuring floral patterns at the top of the page and a large letter "A" embellished with vines. The text, written in Greek, is in the center of the page. Below the script, the painting depicts a pastoral landscape. On the lower left, a seated man with a brown beard plays a stringed instrument, resembling a viola or a lute, while on the lower right, another person clad in blue plays panpipes. Surrounding them are various animals including sheep and goats on top of small green hills with a small river in the center. Trees rise along the sides of the page, and two small coats of arms hang from branches on either side.

Albrecht Dürer