Shepherd by the Lake, Christian Wall Art

What is painted

Jagged gray and white mountains rise on both sides of a long, still lake that reflects their shapes and the pale sky. Their lower slopes are dark with pines and fir trees, and far down the valley the last peaks glow a soft pink in the evening light. In the foreground, a grassy hillside scattered with pale boulders and shrubs runs down toward the water.

On it, small and easy to overlook, walks a shepherd in a long brown robe with a staff, two sheep beside him on the path. The watercolor is fresh and detailed, with blues, greens and warm creams, and the edges break up into speckled brushwork on white paper. There is no text.

The shepherd in Scripture

The Bible is full of shepherds, and very few of its images are as enduring. David was keeping his father's sheep when Samuel came to anoint him (1 Samuel 16:11), and Psalm 23 begins “The LORD is my shepherd” and leads “beside the still waters.” Isaiah says of God, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm” (Isaiah 40:11).

Jesus takes up the image for himself in John 10: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” He tells of a shepherd who leaves the ninety and nine to look for the one that is lost (Luke 15:4). And after the resurrection, by the Sea of Tiberias, he asks Peter three times whether he loves him, and three times gives him the same charge: feed my sheep (John 21:15-17).

The landscape here is not the Holy Land, and it does not need to be. It is simply a shepherd with his flock beside still water, the most familiar picture of care there is.

For grief, for a pastor, for a peaceful room

Because it has no words, this print is often chosen for a sympathy gift, to be hung in a room where someone will sit and remember. It is also a fitting gift for a pastor, whose own title comes from the Latin word for shepherd, and for Father's Day. The cool, open palette brings calm to a bedroom, a living room or an office.

Like the rest of our Christian wall art, it is a fine art print on heavy archival matte paper, printed to order in the US with free US delivery. Order it in sizes from 5x7 to 24x36, or in metric and A sizes. This Christian poster is shipped without a frame, with a margin of paper around the painting, and a digital file is available.