Pastoral Journey

As a young woman rides her horse through a flock of sheep, she turns to speak to a man walking by her side. The sheep bunch tightly together, guided by three young shepherds, and a man carrying a large pitcher stands beneath a palm tree in the background. This scene probably shows the biblical figures of Abraham and his wife Sarah journeying to Egypt to escape the famine.

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione used oil paint to create this detailed drawing. With the tip of the brush, he varied the shape and curve of his strokes to create the woolly sheep coats, the fluttering leaves in the tree overhead, and the softly faded tones of the landscape in the background.