Shepherd with Animals

The size and subject of this painting are the same as those of its companion, creating a harmonious complement to it. This is clear from the identical shades of colour used and the composition of the two scenes, which are intended to form two parts of a same view. Once again, the features of the landscape are roughly sketched to emphasize the expressiveness of the animals, a characteristic of Roos’s work. Several long-haired goats and a sheepdog huddle round a young shepherd wearing a blue cap. The figures are depicted in very natural poses, as if captured in a snapshot. The trunk of a huge tree creates a shady backdrop projecting into the luminous sky, where the clouds are tinged brightly by the dying sun.
The composition includes some elements taken from real life which the artist frequently incorporated in his paintings. Born in Frankfurt, Roos earned the soubriquet Rosa da Tivoli from his frequent visits to the town of Tivoli near Rome and its surrounding countryside. The portrayal of animals almost as if they were human is an unmistakable feature of his paintings, which are also recognizable by the thick application of colour, which acquires vibrant, almost earthy tones. The style and composition date the painting somewhere around 1680.