# Toning the Bell

- By: Walter Shirlaw (American, born Scotland, 1838–1909)
- Date: 1874
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: 101.6 × 76.2 cm (40 × 30 in.)
- Culture: Munich
- Credit line: Friends of American Art Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/89626)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/1aa11ac3-944e-93b7-da42-79af1fce71c1/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Like many artists of his generation, Walter Shirlaw furthered his training in Europe, studying at the Royal Academy in Munich. German instruction focused on a dark, painterly realism and was steeped in an astute understanding of aesthetic traditions. In Toning the Bell, executed during his student years and now considered his best-known work, the artist demonstrated an accomplished Munich style, featuring noble peasants, a limited tonal palette, and strong contrasts of light and dark. Prior to his time abroad, Shirlaw had worked in Chicago and helped establish the Chicago Academy of Design, a forerunner to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0