Cows resting by a river as the cowherds talk to a rider; representing morning. Engraving by F. Vivares, 1754, after A. Cuyp.

"A view near Dort. The pleasing scene presents a verdant foreground, beautifully embroidered with herbage, on which repose three fine cows; a fourth is standing in a fore-shortened view, close to which are a shepherd and shepherdess in conversation with a man on a brown horse. Beyond these is seen the Dort River, with several sailing vessels and an old tower in the distance. Engraved by F. Vivares, from a picture then in the collection of William Herring, Esq., 1754."--Smith, loc. cit. The painting was bequeathed in 1889 to the National Gallery where the subject was identified as "Peasants and cattle by the River Merwede". The ruin in the distance was identified as the ruined castle of Merwede (Huis te Merwede), a mile to the east of Dordrecht, which was built in the 13th century and reduced to ruin about 1420