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Richard Earlom

Shepherd Playing the Flute

1774
Mezzotint in brown on cream laid paper
19.1 × 25.8 cm (7.5 × 10.2 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Beginning in 1774, Richard Earlom produced 200 mezzotints after a famous album of Claude Lorrain landscape drawings then in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth (now at the British Museum). Published in two volumes in 1777, the Liber Veritatis became Earlom’s most influential publication. Most famously, it inspired J. M. W. Turner’s partially mezzotint Liber Studiorum , especially his “elevated pastoral” category.

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