Study for a plate from The Task
c. 1800
Medium
Ink wash on paper
Dimensions
2.7 × 5 cm (1 1/8 × 2 in.)
Classification
ink or chalk wash
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
131578
Art Historical Context
Thomas Stothard (1755–1834), a leading British artist of the Romantic era, was for his delicate illustrations of literary works, blending neoclassical elegance with emerging romantic sensitivity. This intimate *Study for a plate from The Task*, created around 1800, served as a preparatory drawing for engraving in an illustrated edition of William Cowper's popular 1785 poem *The Task*. Cowper reflective verses on nature, domestic life, and spirituality captured the era's shifting tastes away from grand history painting toward personal, everyday subjects—a perfect match for Stothard's lyrical st...
About the Artist
Thomas Stothard · 1755–1834
Thomas Stothard RA (1755–1834) was born on 17 August 1755 at the Black Horse Inn in London's Long Acre, the son of a prosperous publican originally from Stutton near Tadcaster. A delicate child, he was sent at age five to relatives in Yorkshire, attending schools in Acomb, Tadcaster, and later Ilford, Essex, where he honed his drawing skills by copying prints. Following his father's death in 1770,...