The Sleeping Shepherd
1857
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1857
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
The Sleeping Shepherd is a 1857 ink by Samuel Palmer, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This print shows a shepherd lying asleep under two tall trees. In the distance, a lone figure walks with a dog, and a small village sits on a hill. The scene is mostly black, white, and gray, with rough lines that make everything look textured. The artist used a method called etching to create this image. That means they scratched into a metal plate to make the lines, then pressed paper onto it. Look up etching to see how this technique works.
