_Paul Delaroche_ (French: 1797-1856).
Hippolyte, or (as he called himself) Paul, Delaroche, was the
popular French painter of his time, and this is one of his
best known pictures. He turned to historical illustration
as affording scope for an art which should reconcile the
"classical" with the "romantic." He was the embodiment in the
art of painting, as someone has put it, of Louis Philippe's
maxim of the _juste-milieu_. To the same class with the present
picture belong his "Death of Queen Elizabeth" (_Louvre_), "The
Princes in the Tower" (familiar from engravings), and several
works in the Wallace Collection. Ruskin, while not enamoured
of his pictures (see _Fors Clavigera_, Letter 35), allows
that his "honest effort to grasp the reality of conceived
scenes" compares favourably with "the deathful formalism and
fallacy of what was once called 'Historical Art,'" and that his
kindly-meant talent has "contributed greatly to the instruction
of innumerable households" (_Works_, vol. xix. pp. 50, 205).
Théophile Gautier, more contemptuously, described Delaroche's
art as that of "historical illustration for the family use of
the _bourgeoisie_," and the vogue which it enjoyed all over
Europe set the fashion for what became a prevailing style of
"stage-dramatic representation" in painting. In 1833 (the
date on our picture) Delaroche was appointed a professor at
the École des Beaux-Arts, and from 1837-1841 he was engaged
upon the principal work of his life, the decoration of the
amphitheatre of that school--the idea of his design being an
assemblage of the chiefs of the arts in past ages to witness
the triumphs of the labourers in his own age. He was assisted
in this colossal work by many pupils; among them was Edward
Armitage, R. A. (see vol. ii. No. 759), who has given an
interesting account of the manner of their co-operation (see
_Report of the Commissioners on the Royal Academy_, 1863, p.
64). The "Hemicycle" was much damaged by fire in 1853, and was
restored after the death of Delaroche by Robert Henry.
The scene is in the Tower, February 12, 1554. Lady Jane Grey, condemned
for treason, has been blindfolded, and is being led to the block by the
Lieutenant of the Tower.