Old Schoolfellows, from "Illustrated London News"

Engraver Harvey Orrin Smith British
After Alfred Rankley British

Not on view

A man confined to bed in humble surroundings gratefully embraces a visitor whom, the title indicates, he has known since childhood. Rankley's related painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1855 with a quote from Proverbs (17.17) in the catalogue "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." This suggests that the well-to-do visitor has responded to his friend's plight with concrete generosity, and close inspection of the image reveals a bank note offered in his left hand.

Old Schoolfellows, from "Illustrated London News", Harvey Orrin Smith (British, active 1847–70), Wood engraving

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