Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904)
Death of Siward the Strong, c. 1882 or before
Oil on canvas
H 238.76 x W 269.24 cm
Southwark Art Collection
Siward was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. Siward was one of the many Scandinavians who came to England in the aftermath of their conquest. Siward subsequently rose to become sub-ruler of most of northern England. From 1033 at the latest Siward was in control of southern Northumbria, that is, present-day Yorkshire, governing as earl on Cnut's behalf.
When Siward was attacked by dysentery, fearing to die "like a cow" and wishing rather to die like a soldier, he clothed himself in armour and took to hand an axe and shield. Ennobled in such a manner, Siward died. More on Siward the Strong
Valentine Cameron "Val" Prinsep, RA (14th February 1838 – 4th November 1904) was a British painter of the Pre-Raphaelite school. Born in Calcutta, India, he was the second child of Henry Thoby Prinsep, a civil servant of the British Raj. The family returned to England in 1843. They settled in 1851 at Little Holland House, and made it a centre of artistic society.
Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904)
The First Awakening of Eve, c. 1850
Oil on canvas
44 7/8 x 53¼ in. (114.1 x 135.3 cm)
Private collection
Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, she was the first woman. In Islamic tradition, Eve is known as Adam's wife and the first woman although she is not specifically named in the Quran.
According to the second chapter of Genesis, Eve was created by God by taking her from the rib of Adam, to be Adam's companion. She succumbs to the serpent's temptation to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She shares the fruit with Adam, and as a result the first humans are expelled from the Garden of Eden. Christian churches differ on how they view both Adam and Eve's disobedience to God, and to the consequences that those actions had on the rest of humanity. Christian and Jewish teachings sometimes hold Adam and Eve to a different level of responsibility for the fall, although Islamic teaching holds both equally responsible. More on Eve
His father was a friend of the painter George Frederic Watts, under whom his son first studied, and travelled with Watts in 1856–57 to Sir Charles Thomas Newton's excavation of Halicarnassus. He then went to Charles Gleyre's atelier in Paris. After Paris, Prinsep passed to Italy. With Edward Burne-Jones he visited Siena and there made the acquaintance of Robert Browning, of whom he saw much in Rome during the winter of 1859–60.
Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904)
To Versailles, an Incident in the French Revolution
Oil on canvas
H 240 x W 357 cm
Museums Sheffield
In the 1780s, as the economy went into a tailspin, Versailles became the symbol of the crown’s lack of concern about its subjects. Protests became frequent and pamphlets depicting the debauched gambling, sexual liaisons and wanton spending of the royal family at Versailles appeared across the country. As 2000 starving workers protested outside Versailles in 1786, it was said courtiers enjoyed a sumptuous ball, dancing with the “greatest gayety.” More on this painting
Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904)
La Revolution, c. 1896
Oil on canvas
H 163.4 x W 112.2 cm
Royal Academy of Arts, London, England
La Révolution was the diploma work given by Prinsep which the RA accepted in 1896.
Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904)
For the Bread of the Needy is Their Life, c.1870
Oil on canvas
H 182.8 x W 274.3 cm
Southwark Art Collection, London, England
Prinsep was a close friend of John Everett Millais, and of Burne-Jones, with whom he travelled further in Italy. He had a share with Dante Gabriel Rossetti and others in the decoration of the hall of the Oxford Union. With other members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, he taught at the Working Men's College during the mid-19th century.
Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB (28 January 1833 – 26 January 1885) in Chinese costume
I have no further description, at this time
I have no further description, at this time
Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB, known as Chinese Gordon (See above), Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer, of the Corps of Royal Engineers and administrator. He is remembered for his campaigns in China during the Taiping Rebellion and in northern Africa. More on this painting
He first exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1862 with his Bianca Capella, his first picture, which attracted notice as a portrait (1866) of General Gordon in Chinese costume. Prinsep lent the costume to Millais who used it in his own painting Esther.
Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904)
A Venetian Water Carrier, c. 1863
Oil on canvas
H 87.6 x W 49.5 cm
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, England
Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904)
In a Street in Venice, c.1904
Oil on canvas
H 152.4 x W 94 cm
Glasgow Museums Resource Centre
Valentine Cameron Prinsep
A Venetian Gaming-House in the Sixteenth Century
Oil on canvas
48 x 72½ in. (122 x 184.2 cm.)
Private collection
From 1862 to his death Prinsep was an annual exhibitor at the Royal Academy. He was elected A.R.A. in 1879 and R.A. in 1894. His marriage in 1884 made Prinsep a wealthy man, and he became a company director and landowner.
Prinsep's major paintings were Miriam watching the infant Moses (exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1867), A Venetian lover (1868), Bacchus and Ariadne (1869), News from abroad (1871), The linen gatherers (1876), The gleaners, and A minuet. (I could not find any of these paintings!)
Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904)
At the Golden Gate, c.1882
Oil on canvas
H 137.5 x W 95.8 cm
Manchester Art Gallery
A pale young woman swathed in an orange, sari-like drapery leans despondently against a pair of heavy golden doors decorated in repoussé with an Islamic geometric pattern. Her robes are trimmed with a gold pattern, a section of the fabric pulled up over her head covering her curly auburn hair. She wears a dark blue short-sleeved blouse beneath her robes, of the kind usually worn beneath a sari, and she has blue sandals and bracelets on both her wrists.Her fingers are interlaced and she rests them on her left hip. An oil lamp with a green patina lies discarded on the polished marble floor to the left. More on this painting
Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904)
Ayesha
Oil on canvas
H 90.2 x W 69.8 cm
Tate
Valentine Cameron Prinsep
The handmaidens of Sivawara preparing the sacred bull at Tanjore for a festival
Oil on canvas
58 x 73¾ in.
Private collection
Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904)
The Imperial Assemblage held at Delhi, 1 January 1877
Oil on canvas
Height: 304.8 cm (10 ft); Width: 723 cm (23.7 ft)
Royal Collection
In 1877, Prinsep returned to India and painted a huge picture of the Delhi Durbar (See above). It was a commission from Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, the Viceroy of India. It was exhibited in 1880 at the Royal Academy, presented to Queen Victoria and afterwards hung at Buckingham Palace. This "colossal work" attracted press comment, positive and negative. Later exhibits were À Versailles (See above), The Emperor Theophilus chooses his Wife (See below), The Broken Idol and The Goose Girl (See below).
Val Cameron Prinsep (1838-1904)
The emperor Theophilus chooses his empress A.D. 829, c.1889
New York Public Library Digital Gallery
Val Prinsep, in 1889, imagines a scene from the life of the Roman Emperor Theophilos, in which the teenaged emperor attends an imperial bridal-show. Potential brides from every theme would have travelled from their homelands to Constantinople, hoping to catch Theophilos’ eye.
The woman Theophilos is reaching for is the future empress Theodora. When Theophilos died in AD 842, Theodora succeeded him as regent for their two year old son, Mikhael III. Under Theodora’s regency was ended the doctrinal dispute over the veneration of religious icons; with full restoration of the holy images.
Also of note in this image is the inclusion of the Byzantine poet Kassia (seen standing by herself on the far left). Kassia was a participant in Theophilos’ bridal-show. Smitten by Kassia’s beauty, the young emperor approached her and said: “Through a woman [came forth] the baser [things]”, a reference to the sin and suffering brought about as a result of Eve’s transgression in the Garden of Eden. Kassia promptly responded by saying: “And through a woman [came forth] the better [things]”, a reference to the hope of salvation brought about by the birth of Christ through the Virgin Mary. His pride wounded by Kassia’s terse rebuttal, Theophilos rejected her and chose Theodora as his wife. More on this painting
Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904)
The Goose Girl, c. 1900
Oil on canvas
H 113 x W 143.5 cm
Walker Art Gallery
Prinsep wrote two plays, Cousin Dick and Monsieur le Duc, produced at the Royal Court Theatre and the St James's Theatre theatres respectively; two novels; and Imperial India: an Artist's Journal (1879). More on Valentine Cameron Prinsep
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