Young shepherd with a bull

First print from a series of ten prints with various animals. Van de Velde took the theme of the young shepherd and the bull from an early painting by Jacob Isaacksz. van Ruisdael from 1646. In the landscape with a farm by Ruisdael, the shepherd and the bull with the conspicuous white spot on the flank are placed small in the composition. Van de Velde detached the group from the original context and followed every detail accurately in his rendering. The shepherd blowing on his horn while holding the bull on a rope stands large in the foreground in a gently rolling landscape.