Getty Museum
A Young Herdsman Leaning on his "Houlette"
Creator
Herman Saftleven the YoungerDutch Artist · 1609–1685
All works by this person →During his lifetime, Herman Saftleven was one of Holland's best-known artists. His father and his elder brother Cornelis probably trained him. His simple, austere style appears in an early series of landscape etchings from 1627. Around 1632, Saftleven made Utrecht his home. In the following year, he collaborated with Cornelis on paintings of rustic barn interiors, a subject that later became somet
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1650
- Medium
- Black chalk and brown wash
- Culture
- Dutch
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
A young herdsman stares wistfully out from underneath a large, tattered hat, engaging the viewer with his direct gaze. He leans against a long *houlette,* a tool consisting of a narrow metal scoop attached to the end of a pole, which he would use to dig up small clods of earth, throwing them behind him to create a trail for his animals to follow. The oversized, ragged clothes he wears suggest both his youth and his poverty. The billowing folds of the frayed cape, big shoes, and peaked hat envelop the slight frame of the boy, emphasizing the poignant, shy smile on his face. In a mixture of chalk and wash, Herman Saftleven the Younger emphasized the play of sunlight and shadow over the boy's body. In the 1600s, Dutch artists first began to sketch the poor in their works of art, capturing not only their poverty, but also their rustic beauty and dignity. Saftleven sketched this boy, probably hoping to use his image in one of his paintings.
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