Shepherd piping to a Shepherdess
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Shepherd piping to a Shepherdess
by Robert Robinson, published by Isaac Beckett
mezzotint, circa 1683-1688
9 7/8 in. x 13 3/8 in. (250 mm x 340 mm) plate size, trimmed to platemark
Purchased, 1944
Reference Collection
NPG D11754
Artistsback to top
- Isaac Beckett (1652 or 1653-1688), Engraver. Artist or producer associated with 184 portraits.
- Robert Robinson (active 1674-died 1706), Artist; painter-stainer and mezzotinter. Artist or producer associated with 22 portraits.
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1683back to top
Current affairs
Rye House Plot, a conspiracy to murder the king and his heir, James, Duke of York, is leaked to the government by minor conspirator, Josiah Keeling. Arrests follow; some conspirators are executed, others pardoned while several flee the country.Worst ever recorded frost in England freezes the Thames.
Art and science
England's first public museum, the Ashmolean Museum, is opened by Oxford University to house a substantial collection donated by the Antiquary, Elias Ashmole.International
Financial constraints forces Charles II to decide to relinquish Tangiers, an English possession since 1661, unable to continue its defence against the Moors. Admiral, George Legge, Baron Dartmouth, is commissioned to oversee the port's demolition. Diarist, Samuel Pepys accompanies Dartmouth as his secretary during the expedition.Comments back to top
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Paul Conn
05 October 2017, 18:45
Classic pastoral image flowing from Roman poetry that developed from Roman urban sophisticated life. The ideal of life in the countryside without labor appealed to those "burdened" by uban sophistication. This image falls into the narrower catagory of musical pastoral and also English landscape.