The roadmender in the rain

This engraving is taken from a German “social” novel entitled The Barefoot Girl.
Its author, Berthold Auerbach (1812-1882), sought to describe in a realistic manner the lives of ordinary people in southern Germany, particularly the peasants of the Black Forest and the Bavarian Alps.
This realism is well reflected in the illustrations that accompany his book : attention to detail in interiors, costumes, views of nature and of the villages.