# Noon

**David Lucas** (British, 1802–1881)  
1830  
mezzotint on laid paper  
plate: 18.5 x 25.5 cm (7 5/16 x 10 1/16 in.) sheet: 19.5 x 30.6 cm (7 11/16 x 12 1/16 in.)

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001.118.23. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.119642.html).

## About this work

Sheep graze on a sloping hillside, watched by a shepherd, while a large dark tree anchors the right side and the land falls away to open fields under a broad sky. The print belongs to English Landscape Scenery, the series in which David Lucas translated John Constable’s paintings and sketches into mezzotint in the early 1830s. Several titles in the series name a season or a time of day, and Lucas’s rich tonal range, from deep black to scraped white, conveys the full light of midday on open country.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

David Lucas made this in 1830, aged 28. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

The image shows a landscape with a rolling hill in the foreground sloping downward. The horizon is high, providing a view over fields and sky. Sheep graze on the hill, tended by a person. A large, dark tree is on the right. Brushstrokes vary in the sky and land, with broad strokes for clouds and finer ones for grass and foliage. The color palette is mainly black, white, and shades of grey, highlighting light and shadow.

_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](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/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._

## Facts

- Type: Print
- The artist was 28
- Real size: about 7½ × 10 in (19 × 26 cm). The 8 × 10 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: figure, Landscape, Tree, Sheep, Cloud
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1650.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1650/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/noon-nga-119642).