| The Children of Edward | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Paul Delaroche |
| Year | 1830 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 181 cm× 215 cm(71 in× 85 in) |
| Location | Louvre, Paris |
The Children of Edward is an oil on canvas painting by French painter Paul Delaroche, created in 1830. It is held in the Louvre, in Paris. [1]
In 1827, Delaroche traveled to London, where he visited the Tower of London. He was very interested about the story of the Princes in the Tower, and decided to create an historical painting inspired by the subject. He did a detailed research on the decorations and objects of the 15th century for the current painting. The canvas was first shown at the Salon of 1831. At the time, it was defined as a very moving painting, a "tearjerker", similarly to another later painting by the same painter, The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (1833). [2]
The painting focuses on the theme of the Princes in the Tower, namely Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, imprisoned in the Tower of London at the behest of the regency council, after the death of their father Edward IV. The two princes were declared illegitimate through the act known as Titulus Regius , so the council of safety decreed their uncle, who became Richard III, as successor. This depiction shows the two children huddling together, sensing their murderous fate. Their murder is usually believed to have been ordered by Richard III, even if there isn't historical evidence of that. The dramatic tension of the scene is highlighted by the small dog in alert, at the left, the light that enters under the door and the anxious gaze of one of the children; all these details suggest an imminent entrance and accentuate the drama of the scene. [3] [4]
The episode of the princes in the Tower also appears at the end of an act of the play Richard III , by William Shakespeare, which knew a wide diffusion in France at the time. Several elements of the canvas give a late medieval atmosphere: one of the children holds a book where there is a miniature of the Annunciation of Mary; the medallion with a goldsmith's work; and the decoration of the bed. Several English references shown are the royal emblems at the foot of the bed and the ribbon of the Order of the Garter on the leg of one of children.. [5]
In 1831 it was bought by the French state for 6000 francs and placed in the Luxembourg Museum. In 1878 it entered the Louvre, in Paris. [6]
Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot was a French painter and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists.
Jean Siméon Chardin was an 18th-century French painter. He is considered a master of still life, and is also noted for his genre paintings which depict kitchen maids, children, and domestic activities. Carefully balanced composition, soft diffusion of light, and granular impasto characterize his work.
Philippa of Hainault was Queen of England as the wife and political adviser of King Edward III. She acted as regent in 1346, when her husband was away for the Hundred Years' War.
Théodore Chassériau was a Dominican-born French Romantic painter noted for his portraits, historical and religious paintings, allegorical murals, and Orientalist images inspired by his travels to Algeria. Early in his career he painted in a Neoclassical style close to that of his teacher Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, but in his later works he was strongly influenced by the Romantic style of Eugène Delacroix. He was a prolific draftsman, and made a suite of prints to illustrate Shakespeare's Othello. The portrait he painted at the age of 15 of Prosper Marilhat makes Chassériau the youngest painter exhibited at the Louvre museum.
Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche was a French painter who achieved his greater successes painting historical scenes. He became famous in Europe for his melodramatic depictions that often portrayed subjects from English and French history. The emotions emphasised in Delaroche's paintings appeal to Romanticism while the detail of his work along with the deglorified portrayal of historic figures follow the trends of Academicism and Neoclassicism. Delaroche aimed to depict his subjects and history with pragmatic realism. He did not consider popular ideals and norms in his creations, but rather painted all his subjects in the same light whether they were historical figures like Marie-Antoinette, figures of Christianity, or people of his time like Napoleon Bonaparte. Delaroche was a leading pupil of Antoine-Jean Gros and later mentored a number of notable artists such as Thomas Couture, Jean-Léon Gérôme, and Jean-François Millet.
The Salon d'Hercule is on the first floor of the Château de Versailles and connects the Royal Chapel in the North Wing of the château with the grand appartement du roi.
Louis de Silvestre, also known as Louis de Silvestre the Younger, was a French portrait and history painter. He was court painter to King Augustus II of Poland, and director of the Royal Academy of Arts in Dresden. He is sometimes called "the Younger" to distinguish him from his older brother Louis Silvestre the Elder, drawing-master to the Dauphin.
Alexis Simon Belle was a French portrait painter, known for his portraits of the French and Jacobite nobility. As a portrait artist, Belle's style followed that of his master François de Troy, Hyacinthe Rigaud, and Nicolas de Largillière. He was the master of the painter Jacques-André-Joseph-Camelot Aved (1702–1766).
Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts originating in the Second French Empire. It was characterized by elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as iron frameworks and glass skylights. It flourished during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III (1852–1870) and had an important influence on architecture and decoration in the rest of Europe and North America. Major examples of the style include the Opéra Garnier (1862–1871) in Paris by Charles Garnier, the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art, the Church of Saint Augustine (1860–1871), and the Philadelphia City Hall (1871–1901). The architectural style was closely connected with Haussmann's renovation of Paris carried out during the Second Empire; the new buildings, such as the Opéra, were intended as the focal points of the new boulevards.
François-Alexandre Verdier was French painter, draftsman and engraver. He was a student and assistant of Charles Le Brun.
The style of architecture and design under King Louis Philippe I (1830–1848) was a more eclectic development of French neoclassicism, incorporating elements of neo-Gothic and other styles. It was the first French decorative style imposed not by royalty, but by the tastes of the growing French upper class. In painting, neoclassicism and romanticism contended to become the dominant style. In literature and music, France had a golden age, as the home of Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac, and other major poets and artists.
Paul Victor Mathey was a French painter and engraver.
A Sprig of Asparagus (L'Asperge) is an 1880 oil on canvas painting by Édouard Manet, signed at the top right. It is now in the Musée d'Orsay.
Principal Monuments of France is a series of four paintings created by the French artist Hubert Robert in 1786. They depict the ruins of several Roman structures in Provence.
Portrait of Marguerite de Conflans is a c.1876 oval oil on canvas portrait by the French painter Édouard Manet. It is owned by the Musée d’Orsay, though it is on display in the red salon at the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse. Like A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, the work mimics Ingres in its use of a mirror to show the figure from several angles, a motif rarely used by Manet.
Bullfight – Death of the Bull is an oil on canvas painting by Édouard Manet, executed c. 1865. It is now in the Art Institute of Chicago.
Romanticism was a literary and artistic movement that appeared in France in the late 18th century, largely in reaction against the formality and strict rules of the official style of neo-classicism. It reached its peak in the first part of the 19th century, in the writing of François-René de Chateaubriand and Victor Hugo, the poetry of Alfred de Vigny; the painting of Eugène Delacroix; the music of Hector Berlioz; and later in the architecture of Charles Garnier. It was gradually replaced beginning in the late 19th century by the movements of Art Nouveau, realism and modernism.
Cromwell with the Coffin of Charles I is a partially-varnished c. 1831 watercolour by the French painter Eugène Delacroix, now in the Département des Arts graphiques of the Louvre in Paris.
Michel Vuillermet was a French film director.
The Victors of the Bastille in Front of the Hôtel de Ville is a large oil on canvas painting by French painter Paul Delaroche, from c. 1835. it is held in the Petit Palais, in Paris.
