Pass in the Balkan Mountains

Description

Featured in the 1836 collaborative work of Thomas Allom and Robert Walsh, this steel engraving depicts a steep and magnificent mountain pass in the Balkan Mountains of Bulgaria. While the composition is centered around pointed rock masses rising towards the sky like natural monuments, a local shepherd and a herd of goats adapted to the harsh terrain conditions are illustrated in the foreground. Along with the travelers and pack animals advancing on the narrow mountain path in the midground, the artwork aesthetically visualizes the relationship between the wild, daunting topography of the Balkans and the pastoral resilience of humans who turned this geography into a living and transit space.