The sister arts, a concept linking poetry to painting, flourished during Goldsmith’s lifetime. Stemming from the ekphrasis of the ancients, the idea of the sister arts owes to the continental academies of painting during the seicento. Goldsmith became heir to the idea when he was named Professor of Ancient History in the Royal Academy of Painting. Founding president Reynolds exhibited a portrait of Goldsmith at the academy in 1770, the same year that Goldsmith published The Deserted Village. Two years later Reynolds based an allegorical character sketch called Resignation on lines from the poem. From its illustrated title page to its stirring peroration The Deserted Village reflects a continuing appeal to the mind’s eye, an appeal not lost on illustrators from Thomas Bewick and James Gillray to Francis Wheatley and William Hamilton, and many others. Their sketches of Goldsmith’s villagers remain engraved on the imagination of generations. This chapter explores the milieux that link Goldsmith to the visual arts, from his affiliation with the Royal Academy to his cosmopolitan interests.

This chapter provides new insights into Neoclassicism, Nazarene art, and translational printmaking through an overview of the long-neglected prints of three female artists from German-speaking countries. Angelika Kauffmann, a central figure of Neoclassicism was active in many countries. Prints by her own hand as well as reproductive prints by others after her original paintings helped spread her fame as a history painter. Her success set an example for younger women artists such as Marie Ellenrieder, who admired Kauffmann, even as she moved beyond Neoclassicism to become an important Nazarene creating numerous works for the Catholic Church, including devotional prints and altar paintings. While Kauffmann and Ellenrieder both worked as painters and printmakers, the older artist Maria Katharina Prestel worked exclusively as an interpretive printmaker. With her husband, she maintained a workshop in which she reproduced drawings, sometimes using newly developed graphic techniques.