(Frankfurt am Main 1657–1706 Rome)
Goats and sheep in a landscape,
oil on canvas, 121.5 x 171 cm, framed

Provenance:
possibly Rome, Palazzo Odescalchi (various paintings by Roos, some painted in collaboration with Giacinto Brandi and Carlo Maratti are listed in the inventory of the collection of Livio Odescalchi, Prince and Duke of Bracciano, dated 1714);
by inheritance circa 1990 to the current owner;
European private collection.

This composition was very probably executed in the 1680s, at a time when Roos had a preference for painting small groups of animals – sheep and goats – often led by a billy goat with curly horns, as here. Their light-coloured bodies were off-set against dark backgrounds. From the late 1670s Roos lived in Rome, where he was famous for his animal painting. In the 1690s, he employed larger formats compared to our painting, and would feature never less than twelve animals in his pictures. Roos may be deemed one of the best German landscape and animal painters of the Late Baroque. The documentation of his oeuvre is still far from complete. His works may be found in numerous European museums. His drawings are held in the Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin and in Düsseldorf, as well as at the Uffizi, Florence and in the prints and drawings collection of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.