Return to main page
click here or on picture for larger version
This is part of a larger scene -- for the full context click here for a complete version.
I seem to have failed to take down notes on this item when I scanned it. It is, presumably, Catalan, and from the style probably dates to the mid 16th century. The shepherd wears a rather nice red belt-pouch similar to the "kidney-shaped" style (although the details are slightly hidden). But what is of major interest here is the narrow piece of netting that hangs across the hips below the belt. The item, as shown, would be impossible to use for carrying objects -- if it represents a netted Shepherds Purse, it has become a vestigial artistic motif (in a painting that is otherwise fairly realistic in style). If it does not represent a pouch, what is it? One speculation that occurs to me is that it may represent a sling (another artifact associated with shepherds), but netting strikes me as an unlikely style for that. This item seems to fall in the category of "fascinating, but probably indecipherable".
click here or on picture for larger version
De Lasarte, Joan Ainaud. 1991. Catalan Painting: From Gothic Splendor to the Baroque. Rizzoli, New York. p.88