The Ploughman
Edward Calvert
1827 · Wood engraving on India paper; third state of three · Drawings and Prints
In this richly detailed engraving, Calvert conjured an idealized medieval pastoral world. Made in the weeks immediately following Blake's death, "The Ploughman" affirms the artist's vocation, implying a parallel between cutting furrows in the soil and the printmaker's incisions in a woodblock. The print's full title, The Ploughman, or Christian Ploughing the Last Furrow of Life, alludes to Luke 9:62, "No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God." As Calvert's farmer looks heavenward, he sees a vision of the Good Shepherd who affirms the value of his work.
- Artist
- Edward Calvert
- Date
- 1827
- Medium
- Wood engraving on India paper; third state of three
- Department
- Drawings and Prints
- Credit line
- Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1931
