The Pastorals of Virgil, with a Course of English Reading, Adapted for Schools, Vol. I
Original title: The Pastorals of Virgil, with a Course of English Reading, Adapted for Schools, Vol. I
kurzbeschreibung
This 1821 book page features a wood engraving for Virgil's first eclogue. Four scenes, each headed 'Colinot', present rural figures in traditional dress handling sheep and landscape elements.
Description
The print is divided into four panels, each labelled 'Colinot'. They show people in peasant clothing set in a landscape with sheep and surrounding details; the figures interact with one another. Bold black lines stand on white without intermediate tones — a visual language typical of nineteenth-century wood engraving.
Context
The illustration belongs to the first volume of 'The Pastorals of Virgil, with a Course of English Reading, Adapted for Schools', published in 1821. The book combined Virgil's pastorals with an English reading course and was intended for classroom use. The wood engravings were meant to make the texts more vivid for pupils and to bring the rural settings of the eclogues before their eyes.
Impact
Clear contrasts and the four-part division give the page a calm, orderly quality; the eye moves from scene to scene. The simple, stylized forms underscore the idyllic character of the rural action. The sheet feels immediate and memorable through its reduced black-and-white language.
Technique
The wood engraving as a printing process yields bold lines and sharp contours here, with no halftones. The design is cut into a woodblock and then printed; this produces the high black-and-white contrast. The technique shapes the entire layout of the page.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)