The Rivers of England, from "Illustrated London News"
This image is inspired by Alexander Pope's "Windsor Forest" which names tributaries of the Thames. Father Thames stands next to a stone jar, surrounded from upper left, by the Wandle (a woman holding a pitcher), the Kennet (a youth holding a trident), the Thame (a man resting his head on a hand), the Lee (a man with weed in his hair), the Mole (a man in shadow), the Darent (a woman with a finger to her lips), the Isis (a woman holding a small church), the Colne (a bearded man crowned with leaves), the Wey (a cloaked man leaning on a post), and the Loddon (a youth with leaves around his head). The print reproduces, in reverse, a fresco that Armitage painted in the Upper Waiting Hall of the new House of Lords. Fresco had been little used in England for public buildings but was here encouraged by Prince Albert. The damp climage caused the frescoes to decay and they were concealed by 1894, but have recently been conserved.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Rivers of England, from "Illustrated London News"
- Series/Portfolio: Illustrated London News
- Artist: After Edward Armitage (British, London 1817–1896 Tunbridge Wells, Kent)
- Date: December 27, 1856
- Medium: Wood engraving
- Dimensions: Sheet: 13 3/4 × 9 1/2 in. (35 × 24.2 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of Donato Esposito, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.279.18
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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