by Shirley K. Bennett

Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683), also known as Claes Berchem, was one of the most productive and popular Dutch artists of the seventeenth century. Son of the Haarlem still-life painter, Pieter Claesz., Berchem studied under a variety of masters, including Jan van Goyen, Claes Moeyaert, Pieter de Grebber, Jan Wils and Jan Baptist Weenix.[1] This training may account for the versatility Berchem displayed in his selection of subject matter, compositional arrangement and style. His extant oeuvre comprises more than 850 paintings, 500 drawings and 50 etchings. The majority of these works are Italianate landscapes populated with shepherdesses, herdsmen and animals, which Berchem bathed in a golden light that has been as pleasing to successive generations as to his own. Berchem is also appreciated for mythological and allegorical works. He is less well known for his religious paintings and drawings, which comprise only a small part of his oeuvre.[2] Perhaps because of their relative scarcity, the religious works have been little studied. This is especially true of the drawings.[3] Generally executed in pen and brown ink with brown wash, or in black chalk, at times highlighted with red, some are mere sketches, while others are detailed renderings. Although the purpose of these drawings remains elusive in most cases, a few were probably preliminary sketches for paintings.[4] Among the pen-and-ink drawings, some are indented and were models for prints.

1. Nicolaes Berchem, Adam Naming the Animals. Pen and brown ink with brown wash, 5.8 x 9.1 cm. San Marino, California, Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery (Kitto Bible, fol. 125)


2. Nicolaes Berchem, The Creation of Eve. Pen and brown ink with brown wash, 5.8 x 9.1 cm. San Marino, California, Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery (Kitto Bible, fol. 125)


3. Nicolaes Berchem, Moses Striking the Rock, signed "Berchem" in the lower right corner. Pen and bistre with wash, 20 x 23.8 cm. London, The Courtauld Institute, Witt Collection, no. 2771


4. Nicolaes Berchem, Moses and the Brazen Serpent. Pen and bistre with wash, 20 x 24.3 cm. London, The Courtauld Institute, Witt Collection, no. 2373