Italian Pastoral Landscape with Oxen and Hay Cart Dated 1958- 15" x 19"

A lyrical mid-twentieth-century oil on canvas, likely Italian and signed _M. L. Simonetti_ with the date 1958 at the lower right, this pastoral landscape captures a timeless rural moment with tender observation. Farmhands in traditional dress load a hay cart drawn by a pair of oxen before distant blue hills under a softly clouded sky. The composition is animated by vigorous, almost abstract brushwork and passages of gentle impasto, rendered in a natural palette of sage and meadow greens, ochre, cream, and pale sky blue. Presented in a simple pine frame with a warm honey tone, the painting shows small scattered paint losses, light abrasions, and a fine surface patina consistent with age.

This intimate work brings a sense of warmth and quiet poetry to any setting. Modest in scale yet rich in atmosphere, it’s ideal above a console in an entryway or mudroom, in a farmhouse kitchen, or as part of a collected gallery wall. The harmonious greens and ochres complement antique pine, oak, and worn leather, while its pastoral subject softens modern interiors with a touch of rural tranquillity. In a country or mountain home, it evokes the rhythm of agrarian life and pairs beautifully with ceramics, woven textiles, and natural finishes; in a city space, it offers a grounded, timeless counterpoint to sleek, contemporary surfaces.