The Gods and Their Makers, c. 1878
Oil on canvas
H 142 x W 224 cm
Towneley Hall Art Gallery & Museum
Long’s oil on canvas captures an essence of Ancient Egypt that is representative of the way that Egypt was imagined in late 19th century Europe; an exotic and beautiful image that has found perpetuity, especially in film and popular culture. So much so that ancient Egypt monopolises a considerably large corner of today’s fiction and fantasy market. More on this painting
Edwin Longsden Long RA (12 July 1829 – 15 May 1891) was a British genre, history, biblical and portrait painter.
Long was born in Bath, Somerset, and was educated at Dr. Viner's School in Bath. Adopting the profession of a painter, Long came to London and studied in the British Museum. He was subsequently a pupil in the school of James Mathews Leigh in Newman Street London, and practised first as a portrait artist painting Charles Greville, Lord Ebury and others.
Edwin Long (British, 1829–1891)
Thisbe, c. 1875
Oil on canvas
37 x 24 in. (94.3 x 61 cm.)
Private collection
Thisbe is a character that appears in the work Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid. She lived in Babylon, and was the lover of Pyramus, both living in connected houses, but being forbidden to marry by their parents, who were rivals. However, the two lovers were able to express their feelings to each other through a crack in a wall, and decided to meet near the tomb of Ninus under a mulberry tree. Thisbe arrived first, but saw a lioness that had blood all over the mouth because of hunting; Thisbe, frightened, fled losing her veil in the process. When Pyramus arrived, he saw the veil, and horrified thinking that Thisbe was dead, fell on his sword and died. His blood fell on the white mulberry fruit, staining them. Thisbe returned shortly afterwards only to find Pyramus' body on the ground. She mourned and after a bit, she took the sword and killed herself with it. In the end, the gods, touched by Thisbe's mourning, decided to permanently turn the colour of the mulberry fruit to dark, reminding the relationship of the two young lovers. More on Thisbe
Thisbe is depicted full-length dressed in robes and an amulet, leaning to hear the whispers of Pyramus through the chink in the wall.' Long took his subject from Ensden's translation of Ovid quoted in the Christie's sale catalogue that accompanied the work in 1908. More on this painting
Edwin Long (British, 1829–1891)
Lazarillo and the blind beggar, c. 1870
Oil on canvas
107 x 140 cm. (42.1 x 55.1 in.)
Private collection
The blind man is Lazaro’s first master. A miserly and streetwise old beggar, the blind man earns a living by travelling from town to town saying prayers and blessings for whoever will pay him. He beats Lazaro and doesn’t feed him well, but he teaches Lazaro valuable lessons about how to protect and provide for himself. Like other blind men in literature, he seems to have a gift for prophecy, predicting that Lazaro’s livelihood will depend on wine, and that he will become a cuckold. From The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes, by Anonymous
Edwin Long (1829–1891)
The Babylonian Marriage Market, c. 1875
Oil on canvas
Height: 172.6 cm (67.9 in); Width: 304.5 cm (119.8 in)
Royal Holloway, University of London
The painting shows women from ancient Babylon, whose families have not been able to afford a dowry, being auctioned off as wives.
Edwin Long (British, 1829–1891)
The market-place at Nazareth , c. 1890–1890
Oil on Canvas
132.1 x 197.5 cm. (52 x 77.8 in.)
Private collection
Edwin Long (1829–1891)
The Suppliants, c. 1864
Oil on canvas
H 109.5 x W 84 cm
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
This painting is set in Spain where Edwin Long spent time studying. Inspired by his trips abroad, Long created exotic and colourful paintings which appealed to a mass market. The title of this work refers to the gypsy woman and her children who are begging. Their pleading looks and outstretched arms are being ignored by the seated women. In style, subject and colour, this scene of Spanish gypsies owes a lot to Long’s early tutor John ‘Spanish’ Phillip. More on this painting
Edwin Long (1829–1891)
The Suppliants: Expulsion of the Gypsies from Spain, c. 1872
Oil on canvas
H 182.8 x W 286.9 cm
Royal Holloway, University of London
In The Suppliants: Expulsion of the Gypsies from Spain (1872) a cardinal and a high-ranking official, seemingly a King, are in energetic conversation. They are descending a carpeted flight of church steps, at the foot of which huddle a gaggle of what look like Romany gypsies with gestures of ramshackle supplication. Behind them runs a cloister, through the arches of which we can observe a great lady sweeping past, attended by her servants. As she goes, she glances down at the confrontation outside.
The church is Santa Annunciata in Valladolid, the king is Philip III of Spain (1578-1621), and the period one of ethnic and religious purge. In 1609, at the urging of the Inquisition, Philip had issued a decree banishing the Moriscos – former Muslims who had converted to Christianity – from his Kingdom (Ferdinand and Isabella had already expelled the Jews). Ten years later he was urged by one Cardinal Gonzales to do the same to the long-standing, and largely despised, Romany community, and would have done so, had it not been for the intercession of his Queen, Margaret of Austria.
Long had studied these facts in the writings of Pachero, Secretary to the Inquisition, held in the archives of Sarmancas. To get the figures right, he had studied portraits of the key figures in the Prado. The result, though, is very far from being an academic painting. What he has so vividly brought to life is a delicate balance between different species of power: the ecclesiastical bullying of the Church, the sovereign discretion of the king, the moral plea of the suppliants, and the intervention of the consort. More on this painting
The Spanish Flower Seller, c. 1867
Oil on canvas
H 74.5 x W 109.8 cm
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
Long made the acquaintance of John Phillip RA, and accompanied him to Spain, where they spent much time. Long was greatly influenced by the paintings of Velasquez and other Spanish masters, and his earlier pictures, such as La Posada (1864) and Lazarilla and the Blind Beggar (1870) (See above), were painted under Spanish influence. His first important pictures were The Suppliants (1872) (See above) and The Babylonian Marriage Market (1875) (See above), both subsequently purchased by Thomas Holloway. In 1874, he visited Egypt and Syria, and subsequently his work took a new direction. He became thoroughly imbued with middle-eastern archaeology and painted oriental scenes including The Egyptian Feast (1877), The Gods and Their Makers (1878).
Edwin Long (1829–1891)
An Egyptian Feast, c. 1877
Oil on canvas
H 87.8 x W 187.7 cm
Cartwright Hall Art Gallery
An Egyptian Feast was first exhibited in 1877 at the Royal Academy, London. The Sarcophagus with its dummy corpse being taken around after the feast is a stark reminder to people to appreciate life as well as the ever present reality of death. The corpse attracts varying reactions, from indifference of the young to the reflective expressions of the older figures. An Egyptian Feast was painted after Long visited Egypt in 1877 and depicts a number of artefacts in the British Museum. More on this painting
Edwin Long (1829–1891)
Diana or Christ?, c. 1881
Oil on canvas
H 121 x W 211 cm
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
The painting is set in the Roman city of Ephesus, on the coast of modern day Turkey. All eyes are on the central character, a young Christian woman whose expression is heavy with the burden of making a life or death decision. Will she give up Christianity by offering incense to the statue of Diana, the goddess of hunting or will she refuse and be dragged away by the soldiers to be killed? Behind her, a Roman official holds up the certificate which guarantees her freedom as it records she has given up Christianity for paganism. Although her eyes are looking up towards Heaven, her body is leaning towards the altar of Diana. More on this painting
Long was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1870 and an academician (RA) in 1881. His pictures always attracted attention and his Diana or Christ? (1881) (See above) greatly enhanced his reputation at the time. His pictures suited the taste and appealed to the religious sentiment of a large portion of the public, and their popularity was increased by a wide circulation of engravings. He consequently determined to exhibit his next pictures in a separate gallery of his own in Bond Street, London and there in 1883, and the following years, his Anno Domini (See below) and Zeuxis at Crotona met with great commercial success.
Edwin Long (1829–1891)
Anno Domini, c. 1883
Oil on canvas
H 241.5 x W 488 cm
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
Also known as The Flight Into Egypt, Anno Domini shows the moment the Holy Family arrives in Egypt, as described in the New Testament. It was commissioned for the Lawrence Gallery in Bond Street, London. When exhibited there in 1883, it caused a sensation. It was on display to the public, for a fee, for many years and people queued to view the gigantic painting.
By the late 1870s a visit to Egypt and the Holy Land had become important for artists such as Edwin Long depicting antiquity, the Bible and the Orient. Anno Domini fits into the ‘orientalist’ way of seeing Egypt from a Western perspective.
We see the contrast between the humble Holy Family and the culturally different exotic, pagan world of Egypt. Anno Domini depicts fair-skinned Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ with darker skinned Joseph. They pass traders selling ‘shabtis’ (figurines placed in ancient Egyptian tombs) and Egyptians using good luck charms to heal a sick child. In the background is a procession of worshippers carrying a statue of the goddess Isis with her child Horus. In the distance, there is a monumental gateway to an Egyptian temple and the shapes of the pyramids in the glowing sunset. More on this painting
Edwin Long (1829–1891)
The Chosen Five Zeuxis at Crotona, c. 1885
Oil on canvas
H 149 x W 240 cm
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
The painting, from 1885, was commissioned from the artist by the art dealer and print publisher Fairless & Beeforth, London. It is a pair with 'The search for beauty (Zeuxis at Crotona) (See below)
Edwin Long (1829–1891)
Zeuxis Choosing Beauty, Edwin Long, c. 1885
The search for beauty (Zeuxis at Crotona)
Oil on Canvas
152 x 551 cm. (59.8 x 216.9 in.)
Private collection
Zeuxis was a Greek painter who flourished during the 5th century BC and became famous for his ability to imitate nature and especially still life with his art. More on Zeuxis
Edwin Long (1829–1891)
Jephthah's Vow: In the Wilderness, c. 1885–1886
The Daughter of Jephthah
Oil on canvas
H 226 x W 151 cm
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
Jephthah appears in the Book of Judges as a judge who presided over Israel for a period of six years. According to Judges, he lived in Gilead. Jephthah led the Israelites in battle against Ammon and, in exchange for defeating the Ammonites, made a vow to sacrifice whatever would come out of the door of his house first. When his daughter was the first to come out of the house, he immediately regretted the vow, which would require him to sacrifice his daughter to God. Jephthah then carried out his vow (See below). Traditionally, Jephthah is listed among major judges because of the length of the biblical narrative referring to him, but his story also shares features with those of the minor judges, such as his short tenure—only six years—in office. More on Jephthah's Vow
Edwin Long (1829–1891)
Jephthah's Vow: The Return, c. 1885–1886
Oil on canvas
H 226.5 x W 342 cm
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
Jephthah's Vow: The Martyr, c. 1885–1886
Oil on canvas
H 226.5 x W 151 cm
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
Long died from pneumonia resulting from influenza, at his home, "Kelston" in Netherhall Gardens, Hampstead, on 15 May 1891, in his sixty-second year. He was buried in West Hampstead Cemetery. The will signed by him on the day of his death was the subject of a lawsuit, to which his relatives were parties, but the matter in dispute was amicably settled.
Edwin Long (1829–1891)
Pharaoh's Daughter, c.1886
Oil on canvas
H 196.7 x W 276.8 cm
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
The Finding of Moses is the story in chapter 2 of the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible of the finding in the River Nile of Moses as a baby by the daughter of Pharaoh. The story became a common subject in art, especially from the Renaissance onwards.
The combination of archaeology, scantily dressed women, exotic settings and a biblical story was a bestseller. Although he was praised for his archaeological accuracy, the hieroglyphs in this painting showing the finding of Moses do not make sense, despite being individually accurate. More on this painting
Edwin Long
Ruth Gathering Wheat
Oil on canvas
52 x 42 inches
Private collection
Ruth was a Moabite woman had come to Israel as the widow of an Israelite man. She had returned with her mother-in-law, Naomi, who had also lost her husband. They lived together in a humble situation, and Ruth would go to the fields each day to glean food in the fields during the harvest.
Boaz was a landowner where Ruth came to find grain. He knew of her situation and told his workers to leave plenty of grain for her to find. Boaz also offered her food with the other workers and encouraged her to work in the safety of his fields throughout the harvest.
Naomi noted that Boaz was a close relative who, according to Jewish law, had the right to marry Ruth after the death of her husband. Naomi encouraged Ruth to go to Boaz in the evening and present herself willing to accept a marriage proposal from him. When she did, he was pleased, yet noted that there was one relative who was closer in line to marry Ruth.
The next day, Boaz met with this relative and presented the situation. The relative turned down the offer as he felt it would cause harm to his own family situation. Boaz then made a commitment in front of the town’s leaders that he would take Ruth as his wife. More about Ruth
Long married a daughter of Dr. William Aiton, by whom he left a family, of whom a son, Maurice Long, was killed in a railway accident at Burgos in Spain on 23 September 1891.
EDWIN LONG, British, 1829 - 1891
Ionian pottery seller, c. 1881
Oil on canvas
46 by 35⅛ in.; 116.8 by 89.4 cm
Private collection
Edwin Long
HEAD OF AN ARAB GIRL
Oil on canvas laid on board, oval
35.5 by 30.5cm., 14 by 12in.
Private collection
Edwin Longsden Long, R.A. (British, 1829–1891)
Love’s Labour Lost, c. 1885
Oil on canvas
50 x 75 1/4 in.
The Dahesh Museum of Art
Edwin Long made a specialty of elaborate genre pictures of ancient Egypt. The carefully detailed furnishings in this painting suggest a familiarity with ancient Egyptian artifacts. Yet, like many Orientalist painters, Long rarely drew from memory, choosing instead to rely upon descriptions in books, photographs, or objects in the collection of, for example, the British Museum. The wall mural, wooden toys, vase stand, and stool seen here were illustrated in Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (1837), a well-known book by British Egyptologist John Gardner Wilkinson.
The central figure, presumably a noble Egyptian girl, has become and adult and is no longer interested in the childish entertainment of her servants. The musicians that have been called for, are entering the room. More on this painting
Edwin Longsden Long, 1829-1891
An Egyptian Girl with a Sistrum
Oil on panel
27 x 20 inches
Private collection
Artists travelled with the expeditions in pre- and post-photographic days to record the excavations. The painters that followed later as tourists pictured life in the dead ruins and finished their fantasies in their studios at home in London, for the Royal Academy. Territorial of their subjects, they specialised in particular civilisations — Long made a monopoly of Babylon, but often conflated ancient cultures together in his paintings. It may seem to us now that Long took liberties in his inventions by setting his pretty models in Egyptian temples and tombs, clad in revealing Greek robes and ancient Roman jewellery and surrounded by finds. That allowed, Long was a most able painter; his enamelled surfaces and subtle glazes, his subdued lighting and brilliant flashes of colour, and his sculptural figure-drawing breathed life into the ancient world. Underpinned by unverifiable claims of archaeological accuracy, he and other artists opened up a new genre of Neo-Classical painting, and allowed their imaginations free rein. Wildly inaccurate as Cecil B DeMille movies, the public nonetheless devoured the evocative imagery. More on this painting
Nouzhatoul-aouadat - A Study
Oil on canvas
24 x 18.25 inches
Private collection
The title of this picture means ‘Delight of the Home’ in French phonetic Arabic, but the finished painting was also known as An Eastern Dancing Girl. It is a study for Long’s Royal Academy Diploma Work, painted in 1881 and exhibited there in 1882. This was the zenith of his highly successful career, the year his elaborate Babylonian Marriage Market sold at auction for 6000 guineas - at that time the highest price ever paid for the work of a living artist. More on this painting
Edwin Long
EGYPTIAN GIRL IN HER SALON, 1871
Oil on canvas
31.50" x 17.75", 80.00 cm x 45.10 cm
Private collection
Edwin Long
An Ancient Custom, c. 1877
Oil on canvas
28½ x 38 in. (72.5 x 96.5 cm.)
Private collection
The present painting depicts a Nubian girl on her knees painting the eyebrows of her mistress. A tapestry and a Babylonian relief stands behind them, while the costume, jewellery and perfume bottles that stand in the foreground and background are painted with accuracy. According to Long, the painting was 'the original study' for Esther on a smaller scale, and afterwards completed for the purpose of engraving.
Reputedly commissioned by the MP Edward Hermon for the substantial sum of £1,700, it took its subject from George C. Swayne's The History of Herodotus:
Herodotus records one of their customs, which, whether in jest or earnest, he declares to be the wisest he ever heard of. This was their wife-auction, by which they managed to find husbands for all their young women. The greatest beauty was put up first, and knocked down to the highest bidder; then the next in order of comeliness - and so on to the damsel who was equidistant between beauty and plainness, who was given away gratis. Then the least plain was put up, and knocked down to the gallant who would marry her for the smallest consideration - and so on till even the plainest was got rid of to some cynical worthy, who decidedly preferred lucre to looks. By transferring to the scale of the ill favoured the prices paid for the fair, beauty was made to endow ugliness, and the rich man's taste was the poor man's gain. More on An Ancient Custom
Besides the Edwin Long Gallery in Old Bond Street, a number of his pictures was collected together after his death, and formed the nucleus of a gallery of Christian Art which replaced the works of Gustave Doré in the well-known gallery in New Bond Street. Long had considerable practice as a portrait painter but his success in that line was not conspicuous, although he obtained high patronage and very large prices. He painted for the Baroness Burdett Coutts (his chief patron) portraits of herself, her friend Mrs. Brown, and Henry Irving. Among other portraits of his latter years were a memorial portrait of the Earl of Iddesleigh, of which he painted a replica for the National Portrait Gallery, portraits of Cardinal Manning (perhaps his best effort in this line), Samuel Cousins, Sir Edmund Henderson and others. According to art historian Lionel Cust, "In his earlier works Long showed great power and thoroughly deserved his success and popularity", but added that his later works "suffered from a continual repetition of types which resulted in monotony". More on Edwin Long
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