Stoke-by-Neyland1830
The tower of the church at Stoke-by-Nayland, a Suffolk village near John Constable’s birthplace, rises among trees beneath a sky of heavy, expressive cloud, while two figures work and walk along a winding road. More about this work
About this work
The tower of the church at Stoke-by-Nayland, a Suffolk village near John Constable’s birthplace, rises among trees beneath a sky of heavy, expressive cloud, while two figures work and walk along a winding road. David Lucas engraved the plate after Constable’s design for English Landscape Scenery, the series of mezzotints that the painter published from 1830 to spread his vision of the English countryside. The velvety blacks and scraped highlights of mezzotint gave Constable’s fleeting effects of light and weather a new intensity.
Written by Ochre Editions.
What you’re looking at
The image displays a landscape with a high vantage point. The horizon is low, with a row of trees. A church tower is off-center to the left. The church is surrounded by trees and buildings. A line of trees is on the right side. The sky has large, expressive clouds. A monochromatic palette of gray is used. A path winds through the scene, with two figures: one person working and another walking.
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
- 2001.118.27
- Credit
- Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Type
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
