Thomas Gainsborough R.A. 1727 - 1788

L.G. Duke;
Henry Sutch;
bt by the Present Owner

In this charming scene the artist depicts four mounted figures making their way along a wooded path. Two cows quietly look on from the right, while Gainsborough has achieved a sense of life and atmosphere through the use of his delicate, and yet highly charged lines.

Despite the presence of the cows, it would appear that the figures are travellers rather than herdsmen. Gainsborough returned to this theme with regularity throughout his career. Other examples include the Wooded Landscape with Packhorse descending to a Pool now in the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford and Open Landscape with Figures on Horseback now in the British Museum (John Hayes, The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, London, 1970 pl. 759 and 800).

We are grateful to Peter Bower and the late Professor John Hayes for their assistance.