Italianate Landscape with Shepherd and Flock by Stream, Town in the Distance n.d.

Jan van Huysum created this pen and brown ink drawing, "Italianate Landscape with Shepherd and Flock by Stream, Town in the Distance," sometime in the 18th century. During this period, it was fashionable for northern European artists like van Huysum to depict idealized Italian landscapes, regardless of whether they had ever actually visited Italy. Consider this drawing as an expression of cultural fantasy. The shepherd represents a romanticized vision of rural life, far removed from the realities of agricultural labor. The distant town, bathed in sunlight, evokes a sense of classical grandeur and order. Van Huysum uses the Italianate landscape not just as a backdrop, but as a stage upon which to play out ideas about nature, culture, and national identity. What does it mean to yearn for a place that exists more in the imagination than in reality? What possibilities and what problems does this present?