Yale Center for British Art

Creator:: John Linnell, 1792–1882, British
Title:: Shepherd Boy Playing a Flute
Date:: 1831
Materials & Techniques:: Oil on panel
Dimensions:: 9 × 6 1/2 inches (22.9 × 16.5 cm)
Credit Line:: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:: Public Domain
Accession Number:: B1981.25.420
Gallery Label:: This is a small replica of the painting The Farmer’s Boy, which John Linnell exhibited in London in 1830. He began making studies for the painting in 1828 when visiting Samuel Palmer in Shoreham, Kent. Linnell’s young shepherd reflects the painter’s belief in the inherent nobility and virtue of ordinary rural laborers, particularly shepherds, given that Christ identified himself as the Good Shepherd. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016