Landscape
1776–1808
Medium
Pen and ink, watercolor
Dimensions
sheet: 2 5/8 x 4 1/4 in. (6.7 x 10.8 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Louis C. Kraft, 1960
Accession Number
60.560.13
Tags
Art Historical Context
Samuel Shelley’s delicate “Landscape” captures the quiet beauty of the natural world through a modest yet evocative composition of trees and terrain. Created between 1776 and 1808 with pen and ink over watercolor on a sheet measuring just 2⅝ by 4¼ inches, the work exemplifies the intimate scale often favored by British artists of the period. Its small size invites close viewing, revealing the fine linework and subtle washes that define the scene. Watercolor combined with pen and ink was a favored medium for 18th-century British draftsmen, allowing artists to achieve both precise detail and lu...