Pastorals

Long’s interest in Pan, the god of shepherds and flocks, fields, glens and wooded groves, which was central to his early paintings is also apparent in his later art.

In the shepherds and shepherdesses that inhabit many of Long’s pastoral paintings, Pan is also present – in a milder form – as the Spirit of nature.

In addition to painting pastorals that show rural sprites in an idealised manner, Long created more general pastorals in which he depicted a peaceful rural harmony and the delights of the natural world.