HISTORIC PAINTERS.
Many of our painters who aspired to high art in the field of history
were forced to abandon these ambitious designs, and confine themselves
to the more lucrative branches of their calling. It was not so with
WILLIAM HILTON (1786--1839), who, although chilled and saddened by
neglect, and generally unable to sell his pictures, maintained his
position as a history painter, and suffered neither poverty nor the
coldness of the public to turn him aside. Few details are known of his
life; he was a gentle, silent, and retiring man, who knew much sorrow
and shunned publicity. Rescued from a trade to which he was destined,
Hilton was allowed to learn drawing, and became a pupil of J. Raphael
Smith, the mezzotint engraver. He entered the Academy schools, and paid
special attention to the anatomy of the figure. His earliest known
productions were a series of designs in oil to illustrate "The Mirror,"
and "The Citizen of the World." Hilton's early exhibited works had
classic subjects, such as _Cephalus and Procris_, _Venus carrying the
wounded Achilles_, and _Ulysses and Calypso_. In 1810, he produced a
large historic painting, called _Citizens of Calais delivering the Keys
to Edward III._, for which the British Institution awarded him a premium
of fifty guineas. For the _Entombment of Christ_ he received a second
premium, and for _Edith discovering the Dead Body of Harold_ a third of
one hundred guineas. Nevertheless, the public did not appreciate his
works, and they were unsold. The Directors of the British Institution,
who had already marked their sense of this painter's ability, purchased
two of his sacred pieces, _Mary anointing the Feet of Jesus_, which was
presented to the Church of St. Michael, in the City, and _Christ crowned
with Thorns_, which was given to that of St. Peter's, Eaton Square, but
which has since been sold. In 1819 Hilton became a full member of the
Academy, and was appointed Keeper in 1827, a position for which he was
specially fitted, and where he gained the affection of the students. In
the next year he married. The death of his wife, in 1835, crushed his
energy and hope. He saw himself painting for a public which did not
value his art.
[Illustration: THE RAPE OF EUROPA. _By_ HILTON. A.D. 1818. _In the
possession of the Earl of Egremont._]
In addition to the above examples, we may mention Hilton's _Serena
rescued by the Red Cross Knight, Sir Calepine_, and _The Meeting of
Abraham's Servant with Rebekah_ (National Gallery), and a triptych of
_The Crucifixion_, which is at Liverpool. Most of Hilton's works are
falling to decay through the use of asphaltum.
BENJAMIN ROBERT HAYDON (1786--1846) was the son of a bookseller at
Plymouth, and his "fitful life"--marked by "restless and importunate
vanity"--was ended by his own act. Haydon refused to follow his father's
business, and insisted on becoming a painter. Of his thoughts, hopes,
and dreams, we have been well informed. He was in the habit of writing
in an elaborate diary all that concerned himself. He came to London in
1804 with L20 in his pocket, entered the Academy schools, and worked
there with vigour and self-reliance. Northcote did not encourage his
enthusiastic countryman when he told him that as an historic painter "he
would starve with a bundle of straw under his head." We admire the
courage of Haydon in holding fast to the branch of art he had embraced,
but his egotism fulfilled the prophecy of Northcote. When twenty-one,
Haydon ordered a canvas for _Joseph and Mary resting on the Road to
Egypt_, and he prayed over the blank canvas that God would bless his
career, and enable him to create a new era in art. Lord Mulgrave became
his patron, and this may have added to the painter's hopes. He painted
_Dentatus_, and, intoxicated by flattery, believed the production of
this his second work would mark "an epoch in English art." _Dentatus_,
however, was hung in the ante-room of the Royal Academy, and coldly
received. In 1810, he began _Lady Macbeth_ for Sir George Beaumont;
quarrelling with his patron, he lost the commission, but worked on at
the picture. Although deeply in debt, he quarrelled with those who would
have been his friends. His _Judgment of Solomon_, a very fine picture,
was painted under great difficulties and privations. West, the
President, whom the painter accused of hostility to him, is said to have
shed tears of admiration at the sight of this work, and sent Haydon a
gift of L15. _Solomon_ was sold for 600 guineas, and the British
Institution awarded another hundred guineas as a premium to its author.
In 1820 Haydon produced _Christ's Entry into Jerusalem_, and during its
progress he, as he recorded, "held intercourse only with his art and his
Creator." This picture was exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly,
and brought a large sum of money to the painter. Unsold in England, the
work of which Haydon had expected much was purchased for L240, and sent
to America. He established an Art school, where several able painters
were trained, but the master was constantly in great pecuniary
difficulties. In 1823, he exhibited the _The Raising of Lazarus_,
containing twenty figures, each nine feet high, which is now in the
National Gallery. Of this work Mr. Redgrave says: "The first impression
of the picture is imposing; the general effect powerful, and well suited
to the subject; the incidents and grouping well conceived; the
colouring good, and in parts brilliant. The Christ is weak, probably the
weakest, though the chief figure in the picture." Misfortune still
dogged the painter. He was thrown into prison for debt; released, he
worked in poverty, afraid of his "wicked-eyed, wrinkled, waddling,
gin-drinking, dirty-ruffled landlady." The closing scenes of his life
grew darker and darker. In 1826, he painted _Venus and Anchises_, on
commission, began _Alexander taming Bucephalus_, and _Euclus_, and was
once more in prison. An appeal in the newspapers produced money enough
to set him again at liberty. Then appeared the _Mock Election_, and
_Chairing the Member_, the former being purchased by the King. No
success, however, seemed to stem the tide of Haydon's misfortunes. He
lectured on Art with great ability in 1840, continued painting for
bread, and finally, disgusted by the cold reception of _Aristides_, and
_Nero watching the Burning of Rome_, the over-wrought mind of the
unfortunate man gave way, and he committed suicide, leaving this brief
entry in his journal--"God forgive me! Amen. Finis. B. R. Haydon.
'Stretch me no longer on the rack of this sad world.'--_Lear_." A sad
finish to his ambitious hopes! Of Haydon's art generally Mr. Redgrave
says: "He was a good anatomist and draughtsman, his colour was
effective, the treatment of his subject and conception were original and
powerful; but his works have a hurried and incomplete look, his finish
is coarse, sometimes woolly, and not free from vulgarity."
[Illustration: THE DANGEROUS PLAYMATE. _By_ ETTY. A.D. 1833. _In the
National Gallery._]
WILLIAM ETTY (1787--1849), the son of a miller at York, had few
advantages to help him on the road to fame. His education was slight,
and his early years were spent as a printer's apprentice in Hull. But he
had determined to be a painter; and his motto was, as he tells us,
"_Perseverance_." In 1806, he visited an uncle, in Lombard Street, and
became a student at the Academy, though his earliest art-school was a
plaster-cast shop in Cock Lane. Through his uncle's generosity, he
became a pupil of Lawrence, who had little time to attend to him. Though
overwhelmed with difficulties Etty persevered bravely. He laboured
diligently in the "Life School," tried in vain for all the medals, sent
his pictures to the Academy only to see them rejected; unlike Haydon, he
never lost heart. In 1820 _The Coral Finders_ was exhibited at the
Academy, and in the following year _Cleopatra_. His patience and
diligence were rewarded; henceforth his career was one of success. In
1822, he visited Italy, and in 1828 became a full member of the Academy.
His art was very unequal. He chiefly devoted himself, however, to
painting women, as being the embodiments of beauty. As a colourist few
English painters have rivalled him, and as a painter of flesh he stands
high. As showing the different forms of his many-sided art, we may
mention _Judith and Holofernes_, _Benaiah_, _The Eve of the Deluge_,
_Youth on the prow and Pleasure at the Helm_, _The Imprudence of
Candaules_, _The dangerous Playmate_, and _The Magdalen_ (all in the
National Gallery). Etty died unmarried, and the possessor of a
considerable fortune.
HENRY PERRONET BRIGGS (1792--1844), distinguished as an historic and
portrait painter, began his art studies at the Academy in 1811, and was
made a full member of that body in 1832. His best-known works are
_Othello relating his Adventures_, _The first Conference between the
Spaniards and Peruvians_, and _Juliet and her Nurse_; the two latter are
in the National Gallery. This master in his later years forsook
historical painting for portraiture.
[Illustration: GREEK FUGITIVES. _By_ EASTLAKE. _Painted for Sir Matthew
White Ridley, Bart._ _Exhibited at the Royal Academy in_ A.D. 1833.]
CHARLES LOCK EASTLAKE (1793--1865), son of the Solicitor to the
Admiralty in that town, was born at Plymouth, and educated first in
Plympton Grammar School, where Reynolds had studied, and afterwards at
the Charterhouse, London. Choosing the profession of a painter, he was
encouraged, doubtless, by his fellow-townsman, Haydon, who had just
exhibited _Dentatus_. Eastlake became the pupil of that erratic master,
and attended the Academy schools. In 1813, he exhibited at the British
Institution a large and ambitious picture, _Christ raising the Daughter
of the Ruler_. In the following year the young painter was sent by Mr.
Harman to Paris, to copy some of the famous works collected by Napoleon
in the Louvre. The Emperor's escape from Elba, and the consequent
excitement in Europe, caused Eastlake to quit Paris, and he returned to
Plymouth, where he practised successfully as a portrait painter. A
portrait of Napoleon, which Eastlake enlarged from his sketch of the
Emperor on board the _Bellerophon_ when bound for St. Helena, appeared
in 1815. This picture now belongs to Lord Clinton. In the same year he
exhibited _Brutus exhorting the Romans to avenge the Death of Lucretia_.
In 1819 Eastlake visited Greece and Italy, and spent fourteen years
abroad, chiefly at Ferrara and Rome. The picturesque dress of the
Italian and Greek peasantry so fascinated him that for a long period he
forsook history for small _genre_ works, of which brigands and peasants
were the chief subjects. A large historical painting, _Mercury bringing
the Golden Apple to Paris_, appeared in 1820. Seven years later, _The
Spartan Isidas_, now in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, was
exhibited at the Academy, and procured for the painter the
Associateship. It illustrates the story told by Plutarch, in his "Life
of Agesilaus," of the young warrior called suddenly in his bath to
oppose the Thebans. Rushing forth naked with his sword and spear, he
drove back the Thebans and escaped unhurt. In 1828, Eastlake produced
_Italian Scene in the Anno Santo, Pilgrims arriving in sight of St.
Peter's_, which he twice repeated. In 1829 _Lord Byron's Dream_, a
poetic landscape (National Gallery), was exhibited, and Eastlake
becoming an Academician, returned to England. Then followed _Greek
Fugitives_, _Escape of the Carrara Family from the Duke of Milan_ (a
repetition is in the National Gallery), _Haidee_ (National Gallery),
_Gaston de Foix before the Battle of Ravenna_, _Christ blessing Little
Children_, _Christ weeping over Jerusalem_ (a repetition is in the
National Gallery), and _Hagar and Ishmael_. To his labours as a painter
Eastlake added the duties of several important offices, and much
valuable literary work. He was Secretary to the Royal Commission for
Decorating the New Palace of Westminster, Librarian of the Royal
Academy, and Keeper, and afterwards Director of the National Gallery. In
1850, he succeeded Sir Martin Shee as President of the Royal Academy,
and was knighted. From that time till his death, at Pisa, in 1865, he
was chiefly engaged in selecting pictures to be purchased by the British
Government. He was editor of Kugler's "Handbook of the Italian Schools
of Painting," and author of "Materials for a History of Oil Painting."
[Illustration: JOASH SHOOTING THE ARROWS OF DELIVERANCE. _By_ DYCE. A.D.
1844. _In the possession of Mr. Bicknell._]
WILLIAM DYCE (1806--1864), a native of Aberdeen, commenced his art
studies at the Royal Scottish Academy. Visiting Italy he studied the old
masters, and their influence had a lasting effect upon his style. In
1827 Dyce exhibited at the Royal Academy _Bacchus nursed by the Nymphs_.
In 1830, he settled in Edinburgh, and achieved marked success. _The
Descent of Venus_ appeared at the Academy in 1836. Having removed to
London, Dyce exhibited, in 1844, _Joash shooting the Arrows of
Deliverance_, and was elected an Associate. In 1847, he produced the
sketch of a fresco executed at Osborne House, _Neptune assigning to
Britannia the Empire of the Sea_. Dyce was chosen, in 1848, to decorate
the Queen's Robing-Room in the Houses of Parliament, and commenced, but
did not quite finish, a large series of frescoes illustrating _The
Legend of King Arthur_. He produced other historic works, chiefly of
Biblical subjects, and of great merit.
GEORGE HARVEY (1805--1876) was born at St. Ninian's, Fifeshire, and
apprenticed to a bookseller at Stirling. He quitted this craft at the
age of eighteen, and commenced his art career at Edinburgh. In Scotland
he gained a wide popularity. He took an active part in the establishment
of the Royal Scottish Academy, and was knighted in 1867. His favourite
subjects were Puritan episodes, such as _Covenanters' Communion_,
_Bunyan imagining his Pilgrim's Progress in Bedford Gaol_, and _The
Battle of Drumclog_.
THOMAS DUNCAN (1807--1845), a native of Perthshire, first attracted
notice by his pictures of a _Milkmaid_, and _Sir John Falstaff_. In
1840, he exhibited at the Royal Academy his historical painting,
_Entrance of Prince Charlie into Edinburgh after Preston Pans_, and next
year produced _Waefu' Heart_, from the ballad of "Auld Robin Gray,"
which is now at South Kensington.
[Illustration: HAROLD, RETURNED FROM NORMANDY, PRESENTS HIMSELF TO
EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. _By_ MACLISE. A.D. 1866.
_From the "Story of the Norman Conquest."_]
DANIEL MACLISE (1811--1870) was born at Cork, and was intended for the
unromantic calling of a banker's clerk. Fortunately for the world he
soon left the bank stool for the studio of the Cork Society of Arts.
In 1828, he transferred his attention to the Academy schools in London,
and soon obtained the gold medal for the best historic composition,
representing _The Choice of Hercules_. He had previously exhibited
_Malvolio affecting the Count_. In due course appeared, at the British
Institution, _Mokanna unveiling his features to Zelica_, and _Snap-Apple
Night_, which found a place at the Royal Academy. Maclise became a full
Academician in 1840. His latter years were chiefly occupied with the
famous water-glass pictures in the Houses of Parliament, _The Interview
of Wellington and Blucher after Waterloo_, and _The Death of Nelson at
Trafalgar_. The noble cartoon (bought by subscriptions of artists, who
likewise presented the designer with a gold port-crayon) of the former
is now the property of the Royal Academy. Maclise executed many book
illustrations, including those for "Moore's Melodies," and "The Pilgrims
of the Rhine." He executed a noble series of designs delineating _The
Story of the Norman Conquest_. A collection of his drawings has been
bequeathed to the South Kensington Museum by Mr. John Forster. Maclise
painted a few portraits, among them that of Charles Dickens, who spoke
thus of the dead painter, "Of his prodigious fertility of mind and
wonderful wealth of intellect, I may confidently assert that they would
have made him, if he had been so minded, at least as great a writer as
he was a painter. The gentlest, and most modest of men; the freest as to
his generous appreciation of young aspirants; and the frankest and
largest-hearted as to his peers. No artist ever went to his rest leaving
a golden memory more free from dross, or having devoted himself with a
truer chivalry to the goddess whom he worshipped." The most remarkable
works of Maclise are _Macbeth and the Witches_; _Olivia and Sophia
fitting out Moses for the Fair_; _The Banquet Scene in Macbeth_; _Ordeal
by Touch_; _Robin Hood and Coeur de Lion_; _The Play Scene in Hamlet_
(National Gallery); _Malvolio and the Countess_ (National Gallery).
CHARLES LANDSEER (1799--1879), the elder brother of the more famous Sir
Edwin Landseer, was a pupil of Haydon and the Royal Academy Schools. In
1836 appeared his _Sacking of Basing House_ (now in the National
Gallery). He was elected an A.R.A. in the following year, became a full
member in 1845, and Keeper in 1851. Amongst other good works by him are
_Clarissa Harlowe in the Spunging House_ (National Gallery), _Charles
II. escaping in disguise from Colonel Lane's House_, and _The Eve of the
Battle of Edgehill_.
CHARLES LUCY (1814--1873) began life as a chemist's apprentice in his
native town of Hereford. He soon forsook the counter, and went to Paris
to study painting. Coming to London, he exhibited _Caractacus and his
Family before the Emperor Claudius_, a work which formed the
introduction to a long series of historic pictures, noteworthy among
which are _The Parting of Charles I. with his Children_, _The Parting of
Lord and Lady Russell_, and _Buonaparte in discussion with the Savants_,
all of which were exhibited at the Academy. Lucy established a great
reputation in Europe and America.
JOHN PHILLIP (1817--1867) was one of the best colourists of the English
school. He was a native of Aberdeen, began life as an errand boy to what
the Scotch call a "tin smith," and afterwards became an apprentice to a
painter and glazier, and seems to have had instruction in his early
pursuit of art from a portrait painter of his native town, named Forbes,
who was very generous to him. A picture by Phillip secured him the
patronage of Lord Panmure, who sent him to London. In 1837 the young
painter entered the Academy Schools. He exhibited two portraits in 1838,
and two years later returned to Aberdeen, exhibiting in the Royal
Academy _Tasso in Disguise relating his Persecutions to his Sister_.
Once more returning to London, Phillip exhibited _The Catechism_, and
several pictures of Scottish life, as _The Baptism_, _The Spae Wife_,
_The Free Kirk_. Illness compelled him to visit Spain in 1851, and here
he produced many excellent pictures of Spanish life, which greatly added
to his reputation, and gained for him the sobriquet of "Don Phillip of
Spain." _A Visit to Gipsy Quarters_, _The Letter-writer of Seville_, and
_El Paseo_ are examples of his Spanish pictures. In 1857 Phillip was
elected Associate of the Royal Academy, and exhibited the _Prison Window
in Seville_. Elected a full member in 1859, he painted next year _The
Marriage of the Princess Royal_, by command of the Queen. _La Gloria_,
one of his most celebrated works, appeared in 1864. His pictures combine
correctness of drawing with boldness, if not refinement, of
colouring--which is seldom met with in the works of our best painters.
ALFRED ELMORE (1815--1881), an Irishman by birth, won for himself fame
as a painter of historic scenes and _genre_ subjects. Among his works
are _Rienzi in the Forum_; _The Invention of the Stocking Loom_ and _The
Invention of the Combing Machine_; _Marie Antoinette in the Tuileries_;
_Marie Antoinette in the Temple_; _Ophelia_; and _Mary Queen of Scots
and Darnley_. He was elected a R.A. in 1857.
[Illustration]