The Mule Driver
Netherlands, 1630s
Etching
22 x 29.5 cm
The mule with a low-slung head struggling under the weight of a heavy load is a motif that frequently appears in Both’s Italianate landscape scenes.
For many, the mule was an affordable means of transport and an ideal working animal, combining the endurance and sure-footedness of a donkey with the strength of a horse. This print, deriving from a painting also by Both, uses the process of etching to experiment with the effects of light and shadow.
Purchased 1955 (No. 55.21)