Seated Shepherd and a Peasant Woman with a Basket
1759/1782
Medium
etching with white heightening on blue laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 26.6 × 35.8 cm (10 1/2 × 14 1/8 in.) sheet: 40 × 49.7 cm (15 3/4 × 19 9/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ellwanger/Mescha Collection
Accession Number
2017.19.25
Art Historical Context
Francesco Londonio's *Seated Shepherd and a Peasant Woman with a Basket* (1759/1782) captures the serene beauty of rural Italian life in the 18th century. Working in Lombardy, Londonio specialized in pastoral scenes that romanticized everyday peasant activities, blending realism with an idyllic charm reminiscent of the Arcadian tradition. This etching depicts humble figures—a resting shepherd and a woman carrying a basket—evoking the simplicity and harmony of countryside existence during the late Enlightenment era, when such motifs offered an escape from urban industrialization. The artwork's...
About the Artist
Francesco Londonio
Francesco Londonio (1723–1783), born into a noble Milanese family as the fourth of seven siblings, emerged as one of the 18th century's most prolific interpreters of rural life in Lombardy. He trained under the painters Ferdinando Porta and Giovanni Battista Sassi in Milan, accompanying Porta to Parma where Correggio's works left a lasting impression, and later studied etching techniques with Beni...