The Ploughman

Edward Calvert British

Not on view

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.

The Ploughman, Edward Calvert (British, Appledore, Devon 1799–1833 Hackney (London)), Wood engraving on India paper; third state of three

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