Evening in Italy—the Deserted Villa (1845) by Samuel Palmer

Samuel Palmer (1805–1881), English, A visionary of the Romantic era, this British artist is celebrated for his luminous, dreamlike landscapes that blend meticulous detail with poetic mysticism. Though initially influenced by J.M.W. Turner’s dramatic use of light, his work soon diverged into a uniquely personal style—dense, almost enchanted rural scenes, often bathed in a golden, otherworldly glow. The idyllic countryside of Shoreham, Kent, became his muse, where he produced some of his most iconic works, filled with towering trees, crescent moons, and laborers moving through fields like figures in a parable.
His early association with the Ancients, a group of artists rejecting industrialization in favor of spiritualized nature, shaped his reverence for the pastoral. Yet financial struggles and critical indifference during his lifetime relegated much of his output to obscurity until the 20th century, when a resurgence of interest recast him as a bridge between William Blake’s mysticism and later Symbolist movements. Later works, though more conventional, retained his signature luminosity, even as he turned to etching and illustration to make ends meet. Today, his small-scale, intensely personal visions of nature feel strikingly modern—an intimate counterpoint to the grandiosity of his contemporaries.