London, GB | Formerly of New York, Buenos Aires, Fife, and the Western Cape. | Saoránach d’Éirinn.

The Bad Shepherd

Pieter Brueghel II, The Bad Shepherd
Oil on panel, 29 in. x 41¼ in.
c. 1616, Private collection

With an original estimate of £1,000,000–£1,500,000, Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s The Bad Shepherd sold at a final hammer price of £2,505,250 at Christie’s in London this July. As the house lot notes state, it is “one of the most original and visually arresting of all images within the Brueghelian corpus of paintings”.

The story of the good and bad shepherd is told in John (10:1-30), and is based on the notion of Christ as the embodiment of the good shepherd.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep.

It is significant that the distant horizon behind the sheep is broken only by a solitary church spire and a small farmstead. They seem to suggest that in abandoning his responsiblities the shepherd also rejects both the church and the community as he rushes headlong in the opposite direction. The mental anguish experienced by the shepherd is mirrored in a remarkable way by the barren landscape, shown from a dizzying bird’s eye perspective, stretching back into infinity. Interwoven only by vein-like tracks and ditches that lead the eye into the distance, the landscape is one of the artist’s most extraordinary achievements and very much a precursor to the psychological landscapes of the 20th century.

There is something arrestingly modern about this painting that fascinates me.

All images © Christie’s

Published at 10:21 pm on Thursday 11 September 2008. Categories: Art Netherlands Tags: , , .
Comments

I’ve never seen this work before, and I too find it puzzlingly attractive; before I read the caption I had thought it was from the 20th Century.

— crusader88 12 Sep 2008 2:19 pm

Andrew, A wonderful painting, and another fine post. I am not sure why the source you quote refers to the shepherd’s “mental anguish.” Your close up of his face suggests a smirk to me, not regret or turmoil.

— Steve M 12 Sep 2008 5:52 pm

Many thanks, Andrew! I’ve long admired Brueghel, but was unaware of this wonderful painting.

— kd 13 Sep 2008 2:23 am

Thank you so much! Really a lovely picture and comments!

— Alejandro 20 Sep 2008 1:26 pm

The shepherd seems to look over his shoulder and not care about what takes place. Even the black sheep is running in the opposite direction. What I don’t quite understand is the spiky hair. It is such a contrast to all the other, very smooth and graceful, features in the painting. A wonderful painting. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

— Rannva 21 Sep 2008 5:34 pm
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