18TH CENTURY PASTORAL LANDSCAPE, PROBABLY DEPICTING A SCENE IN ARTOIS, FRANCE.

18TH CENTURY PASTORAL LANDSCAPE, PROBABLY DEPICTING A SCENE IN ARTOIS, FRANCE.

A landscape painting in oil on canvas laid onto board, depicting an 18th century pastoral scene probably set in Artois, north-west France, an ink label verso being inscipted Artois N20. Painted in the manner of the Continental School and dating from the 18th century, the unttributed work includes three highly detailed depictions of groups of figures on horseback and on foot travelling along a country lane, with a backdrop of rural vernacular buildings set against a wooded hillside. To the left foreground, a group of peasants on foot in discourse are accompanied by a dog; to the right, a group of three gentlemen (two on horseback, one walking) are accompanied by two hounds, and the third, left of the centre ground, depicts a man mounted on a packhorse laiden with paniers following a further, similarly laden, packhorse.

Condition: Small losses to the top centre and bottom right corners, see photographs.
Framed in a 19th century gilt wood and composition frame.

Continental School, 18th century