Monday, December 6, 2021

28 Works, December 5th. is Edward Henry Corbould's day, his art, illustrated with footnotes #245

Edward Henry Corbould (British, 1815–1905)
The Earl of Surrey beholding the Fayre Geraldine in the magic mirror,, c. 1853
Pencil and Watercolor
92.7 x 125.7 cm. (36.5 x 49.5 in.)
Private collection

The curious painting was inspired by an apocryphal episode in the life of the gallant and unfortunate Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey – courtier, soldier and poet at the court of Henry VIII, who was captivated by the childish beauty of Lady Elizabeth FitzGerald, known as ‘the fair Geraldine’, and to whose service he had devoted his pen. During his travels the lovesick Surrey pined for his beloved and turned for a cure to Cornelius Agrippa, the celebrated astrologer and student of the occult. Agrippa, who possessed the ability to summon up apparitions, obliged Surrey’s wish to see Geraldine and conjured in a magic mirror the object of his affections. More on The Earl of Surrey ‘beholding the Fayre Geraldine in the magic mirror’

Edward Henry Corbould, R.I. (5 December 1815, in London – 18 January 1905, in London) was a British artist, noted as a historical painter and watercolourist.

Edward Henry Corbould (British, 1815–1905)
Jehu son of Nimshi on his way to Jezreel
Watercolor
18.5 x 45 in. (47 x 114.3 cm.)
Private collection

Scene from 2 Kings 9:16. Entourage including mounted armed warriors and Jehu in his chariot approaching the town of Jezreel where he was seeking King Joram, who was lying there wounded and King Ahaziah of Judah both of whom he was to slay on God's orders. 

Edward Henry Corbould (British, 1815–1905)
Jehu Enters the City of Jezreel, c. 1866
Watercolor and ink on paper
47.75 x 33.75 in. (121.3 x 85.7 cm.)
Private collection

Corbould depicts the moments before the death of Jezebel, a popular subject in late 19th-century art history. In the present work, each figure is exactingly rendered with vivacity and realism, as Corbould captures the scene with a remarkable aptitude not only for narrative but also detail.

Jehu made his way to the royal palace in Jezreel, where Queen Jezebel was his last obstacle standing in the way of his kingship. Realizing that Jehu's arrival was imminent, Jezebel bedecked herself in makeup and finery, and stood at the palace window. Corbould captures Jehu as he gallops into the city, points to the Queen, and orders the court eunuchs to throw her out the window. The viewer is spared the macabre epilogue, in which the Queen's body is trampled by horses and then devoured by stray dogs, fulfilling the prophesy of Elijah. Corbould perfectly captures the drama of the moment, from the power and energy of Jehu's retinue to the theatricality of Jezebel confronting her fate. More on this painting

Edward Henry Corbould
Salome dancing before Herod, c. 1868
Pencil, watercolour, bodycolour and gum arabic
29½ x 41½ in. (74.9 x 105.3 cm.)
Private collection

Salome was the daughter of Herod II and Herodias. She is infamous for demanding and receiving the head of John the Baptist, according to the New Testament. According to Flavius Josephus's Jewish Antiquities, Salome was first married to Philip the Tetrarch of Ituraea and Trakonitis. After Philip's death in 34 AD she married Aristobulus of Chalcis and became queen of Chalcis and Armenia Minor. They had three children. Three coins with portraits of Aristobulus and Salome have been found. Her name in Hebrew meaning "peace". More on Salome

Edward Henry Corbould
The story of the young Christ
Watercolour
35 x 50cm (13 3/4 x 19 11/16in).
Private collection

Edward Henry Corbould (1815–1905)
The Woman taken in Adultery, dated Apr 1842
Watercolour and bodycolour
99.0 x 127.0 cm 
The Royal Collection Trust

Jesus and the woman taken in adultery is a passage found in the Gospel of John.
In the passage, Jesus was teaching in the temple after coming from the Mount of Olives. A group of scribes and Pharisees confronts Jesus, interrupting his teaching. They bring in a woman, accusing her of committing adultery, claiming she was caught in the very act. They tell Jesus that the punishment for someone like her should be stoning, as prescribed by Mosaic Law. Jesus begins to write something on the ground using his finger. But when the woman's accusers continue their challenge, he states that the one who is without sin is the one who should cast the first stone at her. The accusers and congregants depart realizing not one of them is without sin either, leaving Jesus alone with the woman. Jesus asks the woman if anyone has condemned her and she answers no. Jesus says that he, too, does not condemn her, and tells her to go and sin no more. Jesus and the woman taken in adultery

The royal purchase of this watercolour at an exhibition in 1842 was important in establishing Corbould’s reputation. The theatrical depiction of Christ’s defence of a woman accused of adultery is typical of the artist’s rich style, more comparable to oil painting than to the British watercolour tradition. More on this painting

Born in London, he was son of Henry Corbould and grandson of Richard Corbould, both painters. He was a pupil of Henry Sass, and a student at the Royal Academy. In 1842 his watercolour of The Woman taken in Adultery (See above) was purchased by Albert, Prince Consort, and nine years later he was appointed instructor of historical painting to the Royal Family. He continued for twenty-one years teaching its members.

Edward Henry Corbould (1815–1905)
Lord Eglintonc, c. 1840
Ooil on panel
H 53.3 x W 42.5 cm
Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victorians frequently made commemorative oil paintings of significant people and events. This splendid portrait was probably commissioned by the knight shown in the picture, Archibald William Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton and 1st Earl of Winton (1812-1861). He is dressed here as `Lord of the Tournament.'

By the 1830s tales of romance and chivalry inspired an interest in the costume and events of the Middle Ages. This painting shows Lord Eglinton dressed in gold armour at the `Eglinton Tournament', which he hosted on his Scottish estate in 1839. Eglinton and his guests dressed themselves in Medieval-style costumes, and took part in processions and competitions. The Earl had been fired with enthusiasm for the Gothic revival by reading Sir Walter Scott's novels of chivalry. Unfortunately it rained heavily and continuously on the Knights and Peers of the Realm in full armour with fully dressed horses. What the picture also illustrates is an early Victorian reconstruction of what antiquarians believed a Medieval knight should look like. More on this painting

Edward Henry Corbould
Hail! Here comes the conquering Hero, c. 1893
Oil on canvas  
Private collection

Edward Henry Corbould (British, 1815-1905)
The Procession, c. 1893
Oil on canvas
48 x 60 in. (121.9 x 152.4 cm.)
Private collection

Edward Henry Corbould (British, 1815-1905)
The Marquis of Waterford at the Eglinton Tournament
Watercolor
32 1/4in x 59cm; 23 1/4in
Private collection

The Eglinton Tournament was held at Eglinton Castle, Aryshire on 28th and 30th August 1839 and attracted around 100,000 people. It started with a procession accompanied by torrential rain which completely waterlogged the ground. The knights sheltered under a grand stand next to the lists which collapsed under the weight of water. However, the tournament continued with running at the quintain and tilting. The present picture records what was apparently the best tilt, that held between Lord Eglinton and Lord Waterford, after the second course when the former broke his lance. More on this painting

Edward Henry Corbould (British, 1815–1905)
Two equestrian figures in armour one being thrown from his horse, with a castle behind, c. 1891
Watercolor
16.5 x 17.5 in. (41.9 x 44.4 cm.)
Private collection

Corbould's two equestrian figures in armour, one being thrown from his horse, with a castle behind. The top two corners with the Royal coat of arms and a shield with Prince of Wales' feathers. More on this painting

In 1834, 1835, and 1836 Corbould won gold medals of the Society of Arts, in 1834 with a watercolour of the Fall of Phaethon, and in the last two years with models of St. George and the Dragon and a Chariot Race, from Homer. His first exhibits in the Royal Academy in 1835 included a model (Cyllarus and Hylonome); and he submitted designs for four pieces of sculpture for Blackfriars Bridge.

Edward Henry Corbould (British, 1815–1905)
Joan of Arc signed and dated 1844
Watercolour painting
61.8 x 87.8 cm
The Royal Collection Trust

Joan of Arc, a peasant girl living in medieval France. At the age of 13, Joan began to hear voices, which she determined had been sent by God to give her a mission of overwhelming importance: to save France by expelling its enemies, and to install Charles as its rightful king. 
With no military training, Joan convinced the embattled crown prince Charles of Valois to allow her to lead a French army to the besieged city of Orléans, where it achieved a momentous victory over the English and their French allies, the Burgundians. After seeing the prince crowned King Charles VII, Joan was captured by Anglo-Burgundian forces, tried for witchcraft and heresy and burned at the stake in 1431, at the age of 19. By the time she was officially canonized in 1920, the Maid of Orléans (as she was known) had long been considered one of history’s greatest saints, and an enduring symbol of French unity and nationalism. More on Joan of Arc

Edward Henry Corbould (British, 1815–1905)
Dinah Morris preaching on the common dated 1861
Watercolour and bodycolour
76.0 x 55.5 cm
The Royal Collection Trust

This watercolour illustrates George Eliot's popular novel Adam Bede, a favourite with both the Queen and Prince Albert. In this scene from the second chapter, Corbould has faithfully realised the author's detailed description of the young Methodist preacher and her audience, the villagers of Hayslope. More on this painting

Edward Henry Corbould (British, 1815–1905)
Héloïse
Watercolor w/gum arabic
47 x 37 cm. (18.5 x 14.6 in.)
Private collection

The painting depicted here, is the very best depiction of this tragic French Heroine; one of the most famous romantic stories of all time; the true story of Heloise and Abalard ~ the letters are famous... this is in our opinion the best depiction of Heloise of all time

What makes the painting so extraordinary, is the fact that the artist painted a pimple in the corner of her mouth. Our left, and her right. This apart from the fact that he did not paint her as a seductive lavishly dressed woman, but as a nun stripped off all worldly goods bar a pearl, the symbol of wisdom, the perfect harmony/marriage of love and knowledge.
But the question remains: why the pimple? It lifts the painting form the ordinary to the extraordinary. More on this painting

Héloïse was a French nun, philosopher, writer, scholar and abbess.

Héloïse was a renowned "woman of letters" and philosopher of love and friendship, as well as an eventual high ranking abbess in the Catholic Church. She achieved approximately the level and political power of a bishop in 1147 when she was granted the rank of prelate nullius.

She is famous in history and popular culture for her love affair and correspondence with the leading medieval logician and theologian Peter Abelard, who became her colleague, collaborator and husband. She is known for exerting critical intellectual influence upon his work and posing many challenging questions to him. More on Héloïse

Edward Henry Corbould
Ladie Godiva, c. 1871
Oil on panel
48 x 28 in. (121.9 x 71.1 cm.)
Private collection

The myth of Lady Godiva enabled Corbould to depict a female nude and a mystical inscription of her name, 'Godiva', written in runes, may be seen on the staircase.

Godiva lived in the 11th Century. She was the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. As an avid patron of the arts, she hoped that if the local populace had increased wealth they would develop broader cultural interests. After interceding with her husband on behalf of the people of Coventry to lighten the burden of their taxes, he relented on the condition that she rode through the streets naked. Her husband held that the nude was considered by the ancient world to be one of the highest expressions of the perfection of nature, and contested that if she were true to her beliefs, Godiva would accept his challenge. She did, and earned a place in cultural history. Corbould depicts her descending the stair in trepidation; her waiting horse is visible below. Lady Godiva

Edward Henry Corbould.
Lady Godiva
Engraved by J J Chant
Size 29 x 21 inches (74 x 53 cms.)
Private collection

Edward Henry Corbould (British, 1815–1905)
ASTARTE , c. 1887
Watercolor
75 x 37.5 cm. (29.5 x 14.8 in.)
Private collection

The goddess Astarte, a deity closely related to Ishtar, was initially the protector not only of traditionally female “elements” but also of direct power - this was a very serious echo of more ancient matriarchal traditions. The Babylonian, Sumerian, and Akkadian kings managed to overcome these traditions for only two thousand years, gradually reducing the role of Astarte in their pantheons and, accordingly, oppressing the role of women in society. More on Astarte

Edward Henry Corbould
Helena and Iphigenia signed and dated 1859
Watercolour and bodycolour with gum arabic
77.0 x 61.5 cm
The Royal Collection Trust

A watercolour and bodycolour illustration of Tennyson's 'A Dream of Fair Women', published 1831-2, showing Helen of Troy and Iphigenia in classical dress standing in a forest. 

This illustration of an early poem by Tennyson, the Chaucer-inspired 'A Dream of Fair Women', reflects Prince Albert's taste for Tennyson's work. He received the watercolour for Christmas in 1859 from Queen Victoria. The Queen had admired a larger work by Corbould, portraying all the heroines of Tennyson's poem earlier that year and subsequently commissioned this replica of the figures of Helen of Troy and Iphigenia. Queen Victoria thought them "the finest [figures Corbould] has yet painted." More on this painting



Corbould was known for his water-colours, in which he produced subjects illustrating literature (mainly from Chaucer, Spenser, and Shakespeare), history, and daily life. A few of his pictures are in oils (e.g. The Canterbury Pilgrims, 1874). He started exhibiting at the New Water Colour Society in 1837, becoming a member in the same year. His early exhibits included The Canterbury Pilgrims assembled at the old Tabard Inn. Many of his works were acquired by Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and his royal pupils, including an illustration of Alfred Tennyson's Morte d'Arthur presented by Queen Victoria to Princess Louise, and Henry VI welcomed to London after his Coronation in Paris, and The Iconoclasts of Basle, acquired by the Empress Frederick for the imperial collection in Berlin.

Edward Henry Corbould
ODALISQUE
Watercolour over pencil
25 by 35.5 cm., 9 3/4 by 14 in.
Private collection


Apart from the royal collections, one of the largest collections of his works was that of George Strutt of Belper. A watercolour Lady Godiva went to the National Gallery of New South Wales.

Edward Henry Corbould (1815–1905)
Noah, a Mystery Play, c. 1858
The Chester's Play of Noah's Flood
Oil on canvas
H 69 x W 82 cm
Ferens Art Gallery

The Chester’s play of Noah’s flood is based on the story of the Bible, so it belongs to the Mystery play. The plot of this play follows the plot of the story in the Bible. At the beginning, God tells Noah that he will put an end to all the people on earth because of their violent and evil deeds. Noah is the only one good man whom god believes, so he is told to build an ark and, besides his family, he has to take into a male and a female of every kind of animals and bird. In the Bible, Noah takes his family and the creatures into the ark without any problem; however, in the play, he gets problems to get his wife into the boat because she can not leave her friends alone and just goes away. Then, the rain fell on the earth for forty days and nights. The flood destroys all the creatures on earth and only those on the ark survive. The play end with the dove’s returning to Noah with an olive leaf in its break and the promise of God that flood will never destroy all living beings on earth any more (p.318, line 3). More on The Chester's Play of Noah's Flood

George Frederic Watts (1817–1904)
Una and the Red Cross Knight
Oil on canvas
H 100 x W 120 cm
St Hilda's College, University of Oxford

Edward Henry Corbould, RI, RA, (British, 1814-1904)
Una and the Redcrosse Knight: In the Cavern of Despair, c. 1906
  Watercolor with body color over pencil
24″ x 15″
THE KNOHL COLLECTION

Una and the Redcrosse Knight is an illustration of a scene from The Faerie Queene, an incomplete English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. The first half of the poem was published in 1590 and a second installment was published in 1596. The Faerie Queene is notable for its form; it was the first work written in Spenserian stanza and is one of the longest poems in the English language. It is an allegorical work written in praise of Queen Elizabeth I. In a completely allegorical context, the poem follows several knights – each knight representing a different virtue. Una is the personification of the “True Church.” She travels with the Redcrosse Knight (who represents England), and together they try to save her parents’ castle from a dragon. The Redcrosse Knight bears the emblem of Saint George, patron saint of England. St George’s Cross, a red cross on a white background, continues to be the national flag of England. More on Una and the Redcrosse Knight

EDWARD HENRY CORBOULD (1815-1905)
Scene from Goethe's Faust: the appearance of the Spirit of the Earth, c. 1852
Watercolour and bodycolour
44.5 x 61.5 cm
The Royal Collection Trust

Corbould’s painting depicts the moment at which Mephistopheles appears to the scholar Faust in his laboratory. The Queen had attended a performance of the play in June 1852. She had been particularly struck by the appearance of Mephistopheles, who, she recorded, was ‘quite horrid to look at’. More on this painting



EDWARD HENRY CORBOULD (1815-1905)
THE CANTERBURY PILGRIMS, c. 1892
Oil on card
120 x 191.5cm 
Private collection

The Canterbury Tales (Middle English: Tales of Caunterbury[2]) is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400.[3] It is near-unanimously seen as Chaucer's magnum opus. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return. More on The Canterbury Tales

Corbould depicts a scene from the prologue of 'The Canterbury Tales,' when the pilgrims prepare to set off on their journey from the Tabard Inn in southeast London. 

Edward Henry Corbould (British, 1815–1905)
The Coronation scene from Meyerbeer's Le Prophète dated 1850
Watercolour
100.0 x 127.0 cm
The Royal Collection Trust

Le prophète is a grand opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer, which was premiered in Paris on 16 April 1849. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, after passages from the Essay on the Manners and Spirit of Nations by Voltaire. The plot is based on the life of John of Leiden, Anabaptist leader and self-proclaimed "King of Münster" in the 16th century.

The opera Le Prophète was one of Queen Victoria's favourites. She was particularly thrilled by the scene set in Münster cathedral in 1534 in which 'The Prophet', John of Leyden (centre), is recognised by his mother (left). Having posed as a Heavenly Messenger, John of Leyden challenges his followers to kill him if they believe the woman's claims. The mother, fearing for her son's life, declares she has been mistaken and is dragged off to prison. More on this painting




EDWARD HENRY CORBOULD (1815-1905)
Duel scene from The Corsican Brothers, c. 1852
Watercolour
43 x 61 cm
Houghton Library

The Corsican Brothers; or, the Fatal Duel is a play by Dion Boucicault, first seen in 1852. It is a melodrama based on a French dramatization of the 1844 novella by Alexandre Dumas. As Siamese twins, separated in infancy, join forces to avenge their parents' murder. More on The Corsican Brothers

Edward Henry Corbould
Lady Jane Grey, c. 1905
Watercolour, touched with white
Height: 354 millimetres; Width: 505 millimetres
The British Museum

Lady Jane Grey, later known as the "Nine Days' Queen", was a teenage English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553.

Jane was the great granddaughter of Henry VII through his younger daughter Mary, and was a first cousin once removed of Edward VI. In May 1553, she married Lord Guildford Dudley, a younger son of Edward's chief minister John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. In June 1553, Edward VI wrote his will, nominating Jane and her male heirs as successors to the Crown, in part because his half-sister Mary was Catholic, while Jane was a committed Protestant and would support the reformed Church of England. The will removed his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, from the line of succession on account of their illegitimacy, subverting their claims under the Third Succession Act.

After Edward's death, Jane was proclaimed queen on 10 July 1553. But support for Mary grew quickly, and most of Jane's supporters abandoned her. The Privy Council of England suddenly changed sides and proclaimed Mary as queen on 19 July 1553, deposing Jane. More on Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey borne in procession moving from left to right along a street, Lady Jane is sitting in a litter carried by horses, surrounded by her retainers, and onlookers on street at right and beyond at windows and on balconies. More on this painting

Corbould exhibited in all about 250 drawings at the Royal Institute, retiring from active membership in 1898. He also produced designs for book illustration: in the Abbotsford edition of the Waverley Novels (Cadell, 1841–6), and in A & C Black's edition of the same works (1852–3); Spenser's Faerie Queene and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (Routledge, 1853); Martin Farquhar Tupper's Proverbial Philosophy (1854); and Robert Aris Willmott's Poets of the Nineteenth Century (1857), and Merrie Days of England (1858–9). He worked for periodicals such as London Society, the Churchman's Family Magazine, Cassell's Magazine, and the Illustrated London News.

Edward Henry Corbould (British, 1815–1905)
The Britons deploring the departure of the last Roman legion , c. 1843
Watercolor
89 x 124 cm. (35 x 48.8 in.)
Private collection

Corbould died at Kensington on 18 January 1905.  He has a memorial tablet in St Mary Abbots church in Kensington, London. His grandson was the noted designer Leonard Wyburd. More on Edward Henry Corbould




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06 Works, October 27h. is Sigrid Hjertén's day, her story, illustrated with footnotes #259

Sigrid Hjertén The blue boat, c. 1934 Oil on canvas, Private collection Estimated for kr600,000 SEK - kr800,000 SEK in April 2012 Sigrid Hje...