A Dell at Helmingham Park, Suffolk1830
A rough wooden footbridge crosses a shadowy ravine in the old woodland of Helmingham Park in Suffolk, with light filtering through the canopy and a path leading on into the trees. More about this work
About this work
A rough wooden footbridge crosses a shadowy ravine in the old woodland of Helmingham Park in Suffolk, with light filtering through the canopy and a path leading on into the trees. John Constable first drew the spot as a young man in 1800 and returned to it in paintings decades later; David Lucas translated the composition into this mezzotint for English Landscape Scenery around 1830. The medium, which works from dark to light, is ideal for the deep gloom of the wood and the few points of brightness that break through it.
Written by Ochre Editions.
What you’re looking at
The image shows a landscape scene with a frontal view of a dense forest. A wooden bridge spans across a narrow ravine or creek. The painting features vigorous and textural brushstrokes with dark tones creating a shadowy effect. The color palette includes deep blacks, dark browns, and occasional highlights of light filtering through the canopy. In the distance, lighter areas suggest a path leading further into the woods, surrounded by trees and undergrowth.
Description from the National Gallery of Art.
How it was made
- Mezzotint
- The whole copper plate is roughened with a toothed rocker so it would print solid black. The artist then scrapes and burnishes it smooth where the lights should be, working from dark to light, which gives soft, velvety tones.
- Laid paper
- Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.
David Lucas
British, 1802–1881 · Born in Geddington Chase, Northamptonshire; died in London.
Lucas was a mezzotint engraver best known for his long collaboration with John Constable. Between 1830 and 1832 they issued English Landscape Scenery, a series of mezzotints after Constable’s paintings and sketches, with Constable closely correcting the proofs to capture effects of weather and light. Lucas also engraved several larger single plates after Constable. Despite the quality of the work, it brought neither man commercial success.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The National Gallery of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 2001.118.21
- Credit
- Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Type
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
