Blacksmith

The swing is caught at its highest point — hammer raised above the head, the left hand holding a bar of metal to the anvil with tongs. He wears a grey-blue shirt rolled to the elbow and a long sand-coloured apron knotted at the hip. The anvil sits on an oak stump bound with an iron hoop, a bucket of tools and coiled rods leaning against it. The palette stays muted throughout; only the bar on the anvil is touched with red.