The Declaration, from "Illustrated London News"

August 29, 1868

Not on view

The dress of these lovers meeting by a wooded pond places them in 17th-century Brittany and the print is based on a painting that Frederick Goodall exhibited at Leeds in 1868. Thirty years before the artist had come to public notice when he showed watercolors at the Royal Academy describing the new Rotherhithe Tunnel under the Thames designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Goodall later became known for middle-eastern subjects whose authentic details relied on studies made in Egypt in 1858 and 1870, and he also painted European historical and genre subjects, including a series set in Brittany. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1852, but also sent paintings to exhibitions in the north of England to attract wider patronage. When he painted "The Declaration," the artist was a bachelor (he would married Alice Tarry in 1872), so the subject may have had some personal resonance.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

References

Title: The Declaration, from "Illustrated London News"
Series/Portfolio: Illustrated London News
Engraver: William Luson Thomas (British, London 1830–1900 Chertsey, Surrey)
Artist: After Frederick Goodall (British, London 1822–1904 London)
Date: August 29, 1868
Medium: Wood engraving
Dimensions: Image: 9 3/4 × 9 3/16 in. (24.7 × 23.3 cm)
Sheet: 10 3/8 × 9 7/16 in. (26.3 × 24 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of Donato Esposito, 2015
Object Number: 2015.653.22
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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