Thomas Gainsborough Romantic Landscape Sheep At A Spring Postcard

RA2  This is a beautiful undated but modern published official postcard from Londons Royal Academy Of Arts for this historic painting of Thomas Gainsborough and his work of Romantic Landscape Sheep At A Spring from 1783 with artist details, dates, dimensions etc & Royal Academy Of Arts logo on reverse being the official souvenir from when exhibited unused and mint.

In the centre, two shepherds are lost in thought while, to the left, the towering rocks loom over a bucolic scene of sheep grazing and a goat drinking from a spring. The sheep are spotlit in a way that implies the sun is to the left, but in the background it seems to be rising or setting near the distant mountain. Susan Sloman observes that there is a 'bowl-like hollow' in the centre of the painting 'that shelters the figures and animals and, at the same time, isolates them from the outside world'. She believes that the picture has 'a primordial atmosphere' as well as 'some charming detail', such as the goat climbing on the well spring - 'moments of levity in an otherwise heavyweight picture'. She also speculates on whether the painting has Christian symbolism.