Pastoral love: nine paintings of lovers in fields, woods and hay

Under a red parasol by the wheat, in a haystack, on a bench in a birch wood. Nine paintings of country love, from Daphnis and Chloe to the Black Forest.

Daphnis, half-draped in a red cloak, seated on a mossy rock holding up a wreath while Chloe sleeps against his knee, under a great tree with a golden sea beyond; painted by François Gérard.

The oldest love story in the West is set among shepherds: Daphnis and Chloe, two children of the fields who discover love without knowing its name. Ever since, painters have sent their lovers out of doors, to woods and meadows, wheat fields and haystacks, where nothing stands between them and the summer. These nine paintings span a century of country love.

1. Daphnis and Chloe

Daphnis, half-draped in a red cloak, seated on a mossy rock holding up a wreath while Chloe sleeps against his knee, under a great tree with a golden sea beyond; painted by François Gérard.

François Gérard — Daphnis and Chloe, 1824. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Complete composition.

François Gérard paints Daphnis on a mossy rock under a great tree, holding up a wreath of flowers, while Chloe sleeps with her head on his knee. Beyond the trunk a golden evening opens on to the sea. Gérard made his name painting Napoleon's court; this is his gentlest picture.

Golden light and the sea glimpsed through trees: a dreamy, classical picture.

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2. Daphnis and Chloe

Chloe in a white tunic with her arm around Daphnis, who sits half-turned holding wild flowers, at the edge of a wood at sunset; painted by Camille-Félix Bellanger.

Camille-Félix Bellanger — Daphnis and Chloe, 1893. Complete composition.

In Bellanger's version, painted in 1893, Chloe stands behind Daphnis at the edge of a wood, her arm around his neck, and he turns to her with a little bunch of wild flowers. The sky behind is warm with sunset.

Tender and sunlit: an innocent love story.

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3. In the Summer (The Red Parasol)

A young couple sitting in the grass under a red parasol at the edge of a golden wheat field, with dark storm clouds in the sky; painted by Josef Mánes.

Josef Mánes — In the Summer (The Red Parasol), 1855. National Gallery Prague. Complete composition.

Josef Mánes, the great Czech painter of the nineteenth century, painted a young couple sitting in the grass at the edge of a ripe wheat field, hidden under a red parasol, while a dark summer storm builds in the sky. The parasol is the only red in the picture, and it is everything.

Green, gold and one red parasol: a small masterpiece of colour.

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4. Lovers II

A woman in a pink dress sitting against a haystack with a man lying with his head in her lap, a red shawl behind them, haystacks and green hills beyond; painted by Pál Szinyei Merse.

Pál Szinyei Merse — Lovers II, 1918. Complete composition.

Pál Szinyei Merse, the Hungarian pioneer of open-air painting, shows a couple resting against a haystack in a bright summer field: she sits up in a pink dress and he lies with his head in her lap, a red shawl behind them, more haystacks marching across the green hills.

Bright, flat summer colour: it looks surprisingly modern on the wall.

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5. The Old, Old Story

A young Dutch woman in a white cap and apron sewing on a wooden bench in a birch wood while a young man in a brown jacket sits beside her talking; painted by Albert Neuhuys.

Albert Neuhuys — The Old, Old Story, 1872–95. National Galleries of Scotland. Complete composition.

In a birch wood, a Dutch girl in a white cap sits on a rough bench sewing, and a young man in a brown jacket sits beside her, leaning forward, talking. Albert Neuhuys called the painting The Old, Old Story: courtship, the same in every century.

Soft greens and whites, unhurried and true: a picture of everyday love.

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6. Young Lovers

A young woman in a blue skirt and white blouse knitting by a wooden fence while a young man with a pipe stands beside her under a tree, green hills beyond; painted by Oscar Graef.

Oscar Graef — Young Lovers, before 1912. Complete composition.

Oscar Graef's young lovers stand at a wooden fence under a great tree: she in a blue skirt and a white blouse, knitting something red, he beside her filling his pipe and looking at her sidelong. Green hills roll away behind them.

Bright, cheerful and full of country costume: a happy picture for a kitchen or hall.

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7. Black Forest Life

A man with a scythe over his shoulder and a woman in a red skirt seen from behind walking arm in arm along a hillside path in the Black Forest; painted by Fritz Reiss.

Fritz Reiss — Black Forest Life, before 1915. Complete composition.

Fritz Reiss, who painted the people of the Black Forest, shows a couple seen from behind on a hillside path: he with a scythe over his shoulder, she in a red skirt, his arm around her, walking home together over the green hills at the end of the day.

Simple and touching: love as a shared life of work.

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8. Pastoral Lovers

A young man in a straw hat and a young woman in a pale dress standing embraced among rocks on a hillside, with a blue lake and trees beyond; painted by Simeon Solomon.

Simeon Solomon — Pastoral Lovers, 1869. Complete composition.

Simeon Solomon, a Pre-Raphaelite of great delicacy, painted these two young lovers standing among rocks on a hillside above a blue lake, wrapped in each other's arms, he in a straw hat, she in a pale dress. It is a vision of young love outside time.

Pale and poetic: a quiet picture for a bedroom.

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9. Rendezvous

A young woman in a pink and white gown reclining in a moored rowing boat among reeds, a young man in a dark coat beside her, on an alpine lake with misty mountains; painted by Arthur von Ramberg.

Arthur von Ramberg — Rendezvous, 1870. Complete composition.

Arthur von Ramberg's young couple sit in a long boat moored among the reeds of an alpine lake, she reclining in a pink and white gown, he in a dark coat leaning close. Mountains rise in the mist behind them.

Cool greens, soft pinks and the mountains: a calm, beautiful picture for a living room.

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Country love is the easiest to live with: green, open and full of light. Every picture here is printed whole, and each has a portrait style made from it, for couples who are happiest outside.

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