Landscape with a Bull, Sheep and Goats

Philipp Peter Roos, known as 'Rosa da Tivoli' for his long residence there, was a German-born animal painter who settled in Rome and became one of the most celebrated specialists in pastoral animal scenes in late 17th-century Italy. His landscapes populated with cattle, sheep, and goats under open Italian skies were eagerly collected by European patrons. This 1688 work exemplifies his mature production, combining accurate animal observation with the picturesque Roman landscape tradition.

Roos arranges bull, sheep, and goats in a sunlit landscape with the confident animal draughtsmanship and attention to animal anatomy that made his reputation. The landscape is loosely but expressively indicated, with warm light picking out the animals' forms against a middle-distance recession.