From the mid 1640s onward, golden, Mediterranean-like light after the example of Jan Both – a fellow painter who had returned from Italy – dominated the richly staffaged pasture and canal landscapes of Aelbert Cuyp. In his choice of motif, however, he remains loyal to his native country: the expansive, flat landscape of the pastoral scene bathed in the soft light of evening cannot deny its Dutch origins. With this unique combination, Cuyp executed paintings of incomparable harmony which are among the highlights of Dutch landscape art. Little known beyond the limits of Dordrecht during his lifetime, Cuyp was only rediscovered by English collectors in the late eighteenth century.