Stoke-by-Neyland
Medium
Mezzotint; proof before published state
Dimensions
Image: 5 5/8 × 8 9/16 in. (14.3 × 21.7 cm) Plate: 7 × 9 7/8 in. (17.8 × 25.1 cm) Sheet: 11 5/8 × 15 1/2 in. (29.5 × 39.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1939
Accession Number
39.68.12
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created in 1829, *Stoke-by-Nayland* is a mezzotint print engraver David Lucas after a landscape painting by John Constable. The image captures a tranquil English village scene, with clustered cottages nestled among trees under a sweeping sky—a quintessential view of rural Suffolk that Constable knew intimately. As a proof before the published state, this impression offers a rare glimpse into the collaborative process between painter and printmaker, revealing subtle tonal adjustments made before the final edition. Constable, a leading figure of the Romantic movement, sought to convey the fresh...
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...