The Pastorals of Virgil, Eclogue I: The Blasted Tree
1821
- Medium
- wood engraving
- Dimensions
- 3.4 × 7.3 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-204400
William Blake conceived and engraved 17 designs for Dr. Robert John Thornton’s The Pastorals of Virgil, a popular schoolbook used in teaching Latin. The publication included translations of poems by ancient Roman author Virgil that focus on a rural setting as both a subject matter and as the background for discussions of various issues, from love to politics. Blake’s illustrations reveal his emphasis on the natural world. As his only wood engravings, they also show how the process entails cutting away from the woodblock to create lighter sections, in essence working in white over a black back…
Provenance
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland, 1934.145
Registry history
- 1821 — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art — prints
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