Return of the shepherd

A small, high-contrast woodcut depicting a rural worker guiding a pair of oxen across a field. The scene is dominated by a dark, expressive sky where a sun dips behind a low hill, emitting stark, radiating lines. The rough, energetic linework creates a somber yet spiritually charged atmosphere, eschewing literal realism for emotional intensity.

Created for Robert Thornton's edition of Virgil's Pastorals, these woodcuts represent Blake's 'visionary' approach to landscape, where the natural world is treated as a medium for spiritual expression. They served as a primary inspiration for the 'Ancients' (Samuel Palmer and Edward Calvert), who viewed these images as windows into a mystical, Neoplatonic pastoral ideal.