The Skylark

1850

Not on view

Samuel Palmer, one of the greatest British etchers, engaged throughout his career with the poetry of John Milton. This pastoral idyll - in which a man accompanied by a dog, pauses at a gate to watch a bird soar into the early-morning sky - relates to a passage in Milton's L'Allegro of 1645 (lines 40-44): "To hear the lark begin his flight/ And singing startle the dull night,/ From his watch-towre in the skies/ Till the dappled dawn doth rise."

Artwork Details

Title: The Skylark
Artist: Samuel Palmer (British, London 1805–1881 Redhill, Surrey)
Date: 1850
Medium: Etching on chine collé; seventh or eighth state of eight
Dimensions: sheet: 14 7/16 x 10 5/8 in. (36.7 x 27 cm)
plate: 4 3/4 x 3 13/16 in. (12 x 9.7 cm)
image: 3 7/8 x 2 15/16 in. (9.9 x 7.4 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: A. Hyatt Mayor Purchase Fund, Marjorie Phelps Starr Bequest, 2003
Object Number: 2003.327
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Samuel Palmer

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Sabrina, Samuel Palmer British, Watercolor and gouache (bodycolor) over graphite, with reductive techniques, shell gold and gum arabic — Sabrina
Samuel Palmer
1856

Grand Pianoforte, Érard , made in London French, Satinwood veneer, oak, spruce, iron, steel, ebony, ivory, gilding, mother-of-pearl, holly, mahogany, burl walnut, tulipwood, silver wire, British — Grand Pianoforte
Manufacturer Érard
Designer George Henry Blake
ca. 1840

Cerway La Ville, France, Eliza Pratt Greatorex American, Etching with plate tone, on chine collé — Cerway La Ville, France
Eliza Pratt Greatorex
1880

The Shearers, Samuel Palmer British, Oil and tempera on wood — The Shearers
Samuel Palmer
1833–34

English Bass Horn in B-flat, Frederick Pace British, born Ireland, Brass, British — English Bass Horn in B-flat
Frederick Pace
ca. 1835

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.