Pastoral Cruelty
Medium
Etching on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 29 × 19.1 cm (11 7/16 × 7 9/16 in.); Sheet: 38.6 × 24.1 cm (15 1/4 × 9 1/2 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
133280
Art Historical Context
"Pastoral Cruelty" a striking etching by Johann Lorenz Rug I, a master engraver from the distinguished Rugendas family of Augsburg, Germany. Created on luxurious ivory laid paper, the measures 29 × .1 cm (11 7/16 × 7 9/16 in.), with the full sheet extending to 38.6 × 24.1 cm (15 1/4 × 9 1/2 in.). Housed in the Art Institute Chicago's Prints and Drawings and classified as an engraving, undated work exemplifies the technical precision of 18th-century printmaking. Rugendas I specialized in intricate etchings that captured dynamic scenes, often blending detailed line work with subtle tonal gradat...