The artwork titled “When Icicles Hang by the Wall, and Dick the Shepherd Blows His Nail,” created by Edward Robert Hughes, belongs to the Romanticism movement and falls under the genre of portraiture. In this piece, a young shepherd boy is depicted leaning against a stone wall, thoughtfully biting his fingernail. Clad in a blue-grey smock with detailed embroidery at the collar and cuffs, the boy holds a shepherd’s crook in his other hand. His innocent visage is framed by a broad-brimmed hat that adds to his rustic charm. Standing beside him is a scruffy dog, adding to the pastoral serenity of the scene. The backdrop features a snowy landscape with sheep grazing in the distance, enhancing the overall feeling of a serene, winter’s day in the countryside. Hughes’ delicate attention to detail and soft use of colors imbue the scene with a gentle, nostalgic quality, characteristic of the Romanticism movement.
