Shepherd and Ruins
1621
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1621
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Shepherd and Ruins is a 1621 ink by Edouard Eckman, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This black-and-white print shows a lone shepherd leaning on a long staff, standing beside a crumbling stone building. The ruins have arched windows and a tower, with ivy creeping up the walls. In the background, a few small figures walk near a river, and trees dot the landscape. The artist used a simple, textured style to show worn stone and rough fabric. This is a woodcut, meaning the image was carved into wood and then printed. Look up woodcut to see how artists made prints like this before photography.
