Collection
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Title
Thenot remonstrates with Colinet, from Illustrations to Robert John Thornton, 'The Pastorals of Virgil'
1821
printed 1977
Artist
William Blake
England
1757 - 1827
About
The 17 wood-engravings in this set were commissioned from Blake by Robert Thornton to illustrate his school edition of ‘The pastorals of Virgil’. The small volume was published in 1821. Blake’s designs do not in fact illustrate Virgil’s Latin verses but an imitation of Virgil’s first ‘Eclogue’ by the poet Ambrose Philips. Like Virgil’s original, the imitation takes the form of a dialogue between two shepherds, now renamed Thenot and Colinet. Blake’s illustrations had an enormous influence on a group of young artists known as the Ancients. They included Samuel Palmer and Edward Calvert.
Details
Dates
1821
printed 1977
Materials used
wood engraving
Edition
150
Dimensions
3.7 x 7.4 cm platemark; 12.1 x 15.3 cm sheet
Credit
Purchased 2006
Location
Not on display
Accession number
323.2006.2
Shown in 2 exhibitions
Exhibition history
Printmaking in the age of Romanticism, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 06 Aug 2009–25 Oct 2009
European prints and drawings 1500-1900, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 30 Aug 2014–02 Nov 2014