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The Faithless Shepherd

Artist (Brussels, Belgium, c.1564 - 1638)
Date1600-1624
Mediumoil on panel
ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings
DimensionsOverall: Height: 74.6 cm, Width: 105 cm
AcquisitionPresented in 1977 by Mrs Alice Hay of Seaton.
CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0
LocationOn Display - Gallery 07
Object numberABDAG000080
About MePieter Brueghel the Younger is chiefly known for his copies and variants after peasant scenes by his father Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c.1525-1569). The Faithless Shepherd probably falls into this category. The subject is taken from the New Testament, the Gospel of St John, Chapter 10, where Christ says: I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.


More About Me
In the Gospel of St John, Christ says: “I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” Here, the Faithless Shepherd does the opposite, and runs away from danger.
Exhibitions