A Wooded Landscape

In the foreground, a dog laps eagerly at a pool of water while a duck dives for food. To the left, a horseman and three travelers on foot walk up the bank to a road. In the middle ground, a lone man fishes in a shallow pool that leads back to a brightly illuminated village. Sketchily painted clouds fill the sky above; sunlight filters through the grove of trees below, lighting areas of the forest and casting reflections in the water. Meindert Hobbema captured both the tranquility and transience of the natural world by masterfully rendering the effects of light and shade, smooth water, billowing clouds, and soaring birds.