The Early Ploughman

Artist

Samuel Palmer (English, 1805 – 1881)

Date

1861

Medium or Technique

Etching on laid paper

Dimensions

5 1/4 x 7 3/4 inches

Collection

Syracuse University Art Galleries

Accession Number

SUAC 1963.0587

Credit Line

Syracuse University Art Collection, gift of Mr. Cloud Wampler

Description

Samuel Palmer created The Early Ploughman (1861) in the middle of his etching career. Bringing an Italianate feel to a British landscape, he depicts men hard at work tending to their oxen as a woman watches carrying a water pitcher against the early morning sky. He emphasizes the simplistic relationship between rural folk and their natural environments during a time of increasing industrialization. Various versions of the etching were created by Palmer as well by his son, Alfred Herbert Palmer.

Essay

“A “Sparkle” Within a Landscape” by Jonathan Chau