Italian landscape with shepherds and maids at a fountain.

Drawing, pen and brown ink with brown wash, 19 x 25 cm, laid paper mounted on 19th-c. paper, attributed by later hand "Berghem" in lower left corner (trimmed inside image at top and bottom, two blue ink stains in centre affecting the image, def. at left lower corner with loss of image, dampstain at upper right corner, vertical creases with loss of image at lower right corner).

Under passe-partout, under gilt frame (not studied outside frame).

Idyllic scene with country people gathering around a drinking fountain. The manner in which the brown wash is applied and the rendering of the faces seem to confirm the later inscription on the drawing which attributes it to Nicolaes Berchem (1621-1683). Also the type of fountain, inspired by the fountain on the Forum Romanum, makes an appearance in other signed works by Berchem, such as the painting in the Dulwich Picture Gallery (London) or a drawing with a similar subject in the Teylers Museum (Haarlem), inv. Q19.
Ref. M.C. Plomp, "The Dutch Drawings in the Teylers Museum. Volume II. Artists born between 1575 and 1630", Haarlem/Gent/Doornspijk 1997, p. 65 no. 35. - https://rkd.nl/explore/images/22166.