Shepherdess Riding on a Donkey, plate 2 from Four Landscapes

A celebrated professional engraver and draftsman, Cornelis Visscher II produced almost 200 engravings in a mere 10 years of artistic activity, including portraits and genre scenes of his own design. He is known for his firm rendering of forms, as evidenced here by the warming sunlight that falls along the contours of the woman’s face and body, shading the donkey on which she sits. A tender gesture between man and woman heightens the sense of drama in an otherwise placid pastoral scene.