Nicolaes Berchem came to specialize in Italianate landscapes peopled with riders, peasants and shepherds in the company of their animals: cattle, sheep, but especially horses. He followed the idiom of Pieter van Laer (1599-around 1642), but conjured richer compositions by giving greater vigour to his figures and forms. Though he may have gained firsthand experience of his subject material by traveling to Italy, no documentary evidence supports this supposition