A Dell, Helmingham Park, Suffolk
Medium
Mezzotint; second state of five
Dimensions
Image: 5 3/4 × 7 1/4 in. (14.6 × 18.4 cm) Plate: 7 × 8 7/8 in. (17.8 × 22.5 cm) Sheet: 11 1/2 × 17 3/8 in. (29.2 × 44.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1943
Accession Number
43.75.12
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the lush Suffolk countryside with *A Dell, Helmingham Park, Suffolk* (1830), a mezzotint print crafted by engraver David Lucas after a painting by John Constable. This second state of five depicts a serene dell—a shaded valley—dotted with grazing cows, dense forests, and a rustic bridge, evoking the idyllic English landscape Constable cherished. Helmingham Park, the historic estate of the Tollemache family, served as inspiration for this intimate study of nature's quiet drama. Mezzotint, a 17th-century technique perfected in the 19th century, allowed Lucas to translate Constable's l...
About the Artist
David Lucas|John Constable · 1802–1881
**David Lucas (1802–1881)** David Lucas was born in 1802 in Geddington Chase, Northamptonshire, the son of a farmer.) A chance encounter in 1820 led him to become a pupil of the renowned engraver Samuel William Reynolds, under whom he apprenticed in London until 1827, mastering the art of mezzotint engraving.) By 1827, Lucas had published his first mezzotints, showcasing his precocious talent for...