A Roman Herdsman Driving Cattle

A Roman Herdsman Driving Cattle from 1829 at the Wallace Collection shows Vernet painting Italian rural life during his tenure in Rome. These genre scenes of Italian countryside demonstrate his range beyond military subjects. Vernet, director of the French Academy in Rome from 1828 and one of the most prolific history painters of the 19th century, executed military and narrative subjects with the fluid technical assurance and documentary accuracy that made him the pre-eminent French battle paint

The pastoral scene is rendered with warm Italian light and characteristic precision. Vernet's handling of the animals and landscape creates a vivid Italian genre scene.