Painting of the Day: The Piping Shepherd, 1870-1890

The Piping Shepherd
Fripp, 1870-1890
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Painted by Alfred Fripp (1822-1895), this painting is one of those romanticized looks at rural childhood which dotted the landscape of late Nineteenth-Century British painting. When this watercolor scene was painted, the shepherd boys of England still donned the traditional taupe-colored smocks (known, appropriately, as “drab”) which their forbears had worn. They didn’t wear brightly colored outfits such as the one pictured here, and, they certainly didn’t have matching hats. But, Fripp endeavors to show us an idealized view of country life—one which would more so appeal to his patrons than the reality of the thing. 

Similarly, if a shepherd felt like making music during this period (1870-1890), he’d not have a lovely Baroque recorder to play. He’d make a pipe from reeds. But, Fripp has given us a nicer world to look at—one wholly owing to the Aesthetic movement which favored beauty over historical accuracy.