Artwork
Six scenes of cultivation and irrigation
Six scenes of cultivation and irrigation is a paint painting by the Romanticist artist Unknown. It dates from 1830 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The work is a painted series of six consecutive vignettes that illustrate various stages of rice cultivation and irrigation.
About this work
Overview
The work is a painted series of six consecutive vignettes that illustrate various stages of rice cultivation and irrigation.
The work is a painted series of six consecutive vignettes that illustrate various stages of rice cultivation and irrigation. Each miniature scene presents laborers engaged in tasks such as transplanting seedlings, winnowing grain, threshing with oxen, ploughing, drawing water, and guiding bullocks to water fields. The panels are arranged in a linear sequence, forming a compact visual narrative of agrarian activity.
Subject & Meaning
The images focus on the everyday work of farmers, emphasizing the cooperation between people, draft animals, and simple tools. By showing women and men performing distinct duties—seedling transplantation, grain processing, ploughing with bullocks or a buffalo, and water management—the series conveys the interdependence of labor roles within a traditional rice‑growing community.
Technique & Style
Executed in a modest palette of earth tones, greens and blues, the painting employs a simplified, almost schematic rendering of figures and animals. Details are reduced to essential gestures, allowing the viewer to follow each activity without distraction. The composition balances clarity with a gentle tonal harmony, characteristic of illustrative works intended for instructional or documentary purposes.
History & Provenance
The six scenes form part of a larger thirty‑folio manuscript that records castes, occupations, cultivation methods, and ceremonial processions. The volume entered the museum collection through the donation of Mr. G. Goolden, who had inherited it from his cousin, Richard Goolden. Its provenance traces back to private ownership before becoming part of the public holdings.
Artist & collection
Domestic Scene
Giacomo and Cardinal Marco, investing Andrea, Abbot of San Zeno, with his Benefice
The Nymph of Fontainebleau
Portrait of a Woman
Madonna and Child with Saints in the Enclosed Garden
Venus and Minerva
Family Group of Four on Sofa
Wall painting from Room H of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale
