Italian Landscape, Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem

It is not certain whether Berchem ever travelled to Italy, but he excelled in rendering idealized scenes of the Italian countryside. His paintings were in great demand precisely because they included all the popular clichés: mountainous landscapes, warm light, hazy blue distances, bright skies and, of course, herders and
shepherds with their cattle and sheep at watering holes or resting in the cool shade.