Thenot Remonstrates With Colinet, from Thornton's "Pastorals of Virgil"
Medium
Wood engraving; second state
Dimensions
block: 1 15/16 x 3 in. (4.9 x 7.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1931
Accession Number
31.87.13
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the pastoral idyll of Virgil's *Eclogues*, old shepherd Thenot gently remonstrates with the lovesick youth Colinet, a scene captured in this delicate wood engraving from Robert John Thornton's opulent 1821 edition *The Pastorals of Virgil*. Commissioned as part of a lavish British publication aimed at elevating classical poetry through contemporary art, the vignette embodies the Romantic fascination with rural simplicity and timeless human emotions. William Blake, the visionary poet and artist, contributed this intricate illustration amid a roster of talents, infusing the ancient Roman text...
About the Artist
Virgil|William Blake|Robert John Thornton (German) · 1514 –1562
German, (?) 1514–1562 Nuremberg