William Trost Richards; In the Woods; 1860; oil on canvas; 16 in. x 20 1/8 in. (40.64 cm x 51.12 cm); One of Richards's first mature Ruskinian landscapes; In the Woods helped to establish the artist as a leader of the American-Pre-Raphaelite movement. Probably painted in Bethlehem; Pennsylvania during the summer of 1860; the canvas displays the phenomenal exactitude for which Pre-Raphaelite painting was known. Nearly every detail; from the veins on the leaves in the foreground to the wrinkles of the tree bark and the individual blades of grass; is rendered as precisely as possible by the artist. Following Ruskin's advice; Richards sought to imitate nature as closely as he was able; replicating the original pattern of God's creation; his aim was to represent perceived truth as the highest form of artistic beauty.