This is Palmer’s sixth etching. A young shepherd sleeps inside a barn while his gathered flock awaits. On a hillside on the horizon a ploughman works two oxen. The figure of the shepherd was possibly based on the Graeco-Roman figure ‘Endymion and the Shepherd Boy Asleep on Mount Latmos’ in the British Museum. The composition was possibly inspired by part of Milton’s poem L’Allegro written in 1645 which describes rural life.
The Sleeping Shepherd 1854-7 by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881). Etching
In this 1857 impression of a state 4 of 4 etching a young shepherd sleeps in a makeshift barn to the foreground, the end wall of which is formed by a vine trellis. Beside him lie a book and his staff. Outside, his gathered flock of sheep awaits and on the hillside horizon a ploughman works two oxen.
The figure of the shepherd was possibly based on the Graeco-Roman figure Endymion and the Shepherd Boy Asleep on Mount Latmos in the British Museum. It was also possibly inspired by Milton’s poem L’Allegro, lines 63-68; '...the Plowman neer at hand, Whistles o'er the Furrow'd Land, And the Milkmaid Singeth blithe, And the Mower whets his sithe, And every Shepherd tells his tale, Under the Hawthorn in the dale.' This is Palmer’s sixth etching produced after a five year gap. It is one of his most poetic subjects and is close in sentiment to his Shoreham works.
Samuel Palmer is considered to be one of Britain’s most original artists, and a key figure in the Romantic movement.
There are these inscriptions on the exhibit:
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery collection, bequest of Emily and Gordon Bottomley 1949
Image © Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery
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