Thenot and Colinet Lead Their Flocks Together
Original title: Thenot and Colinet Lead Their Flocks Together, from Thornton's "Pastorals of Virgil"
kurzbeschreibung
William Blake made this wood engraving in 1821 for Robert John Thornton's edition of Virgil's 'Pastorals'. It pictures the two herdsmen Thenot and Colinet standing outside a farmhouse. The print measures just 3.5 by 7.5 cm and stays entirely black and white.
Description
On the left a man in a long robe, his hair long and curling, holds a shovel; facing him stands a bearded old man with a staff. Before a farmhouse with its gate open, the pair seem caught mid-conversation. Trees and a clouded sky close off the tiny pictorial space. The drawing is finely detailed, and the grain of the wood still comes through in the print.
Context
The illustration was made for Robert John Thornton's edition of Virgil's 'Pastorals', published in 1821. Blake was then in a late phase of his career, taking on a great many commissions for book illustrations. A whole series of wood engravings belongs to that edition, and this is one of them.
Impact
The eye goes at once to the two figures facing one another in quiet exchange. The sheet's tiny format gives the view something intimate, almost absorbed. Crisp contours and a sparing black-and-white contrast carry the rural stillness that suits Virgil's pastoral poetry. Calm and accord govern the arrangement.
Technique
For a wood engraving the drawing is cut into the block and then printed. Even on paper the fine strokes and the texture of the wood remain legible. Despite the vignette's small size, the method allowed every detail to be transferred precisely.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)