SHEEP IN SPRING
Questions to arouse interest. What is there in this picture that suggests the time of year? What are the sheep doing? How many have watched sheep eat grass? Why do the shepherd and his dog stand in front of them? Of what use is the shepherd’s crook or staff? What do you see in the distance? Do you think this is a scene in our own country or in some foreign country? How are the sheep farthest away represented? Where does the light fall upon the sheep and upon the man? What kinds of lines are there in this picture? Tell some of the duties of a shepherd; of a shepherd’s dog. Why do sheep need so much care? Of what use are they? Why do you like this picture?
Original Picture: Metropolitan Museum, New York City.
Artist: Anton Mauve (mōv).
Birthplace: Zaandam, the Netherlands
Dates: Born, 1838; died, 1888.
The story of the picture. The artist has taken us to his own native country, showing us the beauties of the fields in spring, and giving us much of their feeling of calm and contentment. The shepherd has led his sheep safely past the freshly plowed field which we see at the left of the picture, and now he stands in front of them so they will go more slowly and eat the grass closer. If one of the sheep should go too fast he would probably reach out with his long crook, which he would place around the sheep’s neck, and draw it back. The dog, too, would do his part to keep it where it ought to be. Sheep prefer to run ahead, taking a bit of grass here and a bit there, but when they are held back by the man and dog as in this picture, they will mow the grass as closely and thoroughly as if a lawnmower had passed over it.
As we look at the picture we find that, though few details are shown, the sheep in the first row are distinct, while the rest are merely suggested. Anton Mauve has become famous for this very thing—the omission of minor details in his pictures and the simplicity with which he thus tells his story.