The Crystal Ball (painting)

Last updated

The Crystal Ball
John William Waterhouse - The Crystal Ball.JPG
Artist John William Waterhouse
Year1902
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions120.7 cm× 87.7 cm(47.5 in× 34.5 in)
OwnerPrivate collection

The Crystal Ball is a painting by John William Waterhouse completed in 1902. [1] Waterhouse displayed both it and The Missal in the Royal Academy of 1902. The painting shows the influence of the Italian Renaissance with vertical and horizontal lines, along with circles "rather than the pointed arches of the Gothic". [2]

Part of a private collection, [3] the painting has been restored to show the skull which had been covered by a previous owner. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John William Waterhouse</span> 19th- and 20th-century English painter

John William Waterhouse was an English painter known for working first in the Academic style and for then embracing the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. His artworks were known for their depictions of women from both ancient Greek mythology and Arthurian legend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins</span> English sculptor and natural history artist (1807–1894)

Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins was an English sculptor and natural history artist renowned for his work on the life-size models of dinosaurs in the Crystal Palace Park in south London. The models, accurately made using the latest scientific knowledge, created a sensation at the time. Hawkins was also a noted lecturer on zoological topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art of the United Kingdom</span>

The Art of the United Kingdom refers to all forms of visual art in or associated with the United Kingdom since the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 and encompasses English art, Scottish art, Welsh art and Irish art, and forms part of Western art history. During the 18th century, Britain began to reclaim the leading place England had previously played in European art during the Middle Ages, being especially strong in portraiture and landscape art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crystal ball</span> Crystal or glass ball and common fortune telling object

A crystal ball, also known as an orbuculum or crystal sphere, is a crystal or glass ball and common fortune-telling object. It is generally associated with the performance of clairvoyance and scrying in particular.

A crystal ball is a scrying or fortune telling orb object

<i>An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump</i> 1768 oil-on-canvas painting by Joseph Wright of Derby

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump is a 1768 oil-on-canvas painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, one of a number of candlelit scenes that Wright painted during the 1760s. The painting departed from convention of the time by depicting a scientific subject in the reverential manner formerly reserved for scenes of historical or religious significance. Wright was intimately involved in depicting the Industrial Revolution and the scientific advances of the Enlightenment. While his paintings were recognized as exceptional by his contemporaries, his provincial status and choice of subjects meant the style was never widely imitated. The picture has been owned by the National Gallery in London since 1863 and is regarded as a masterpiece of British art.

<i>Echo and Narcissus</i> (Waterhouse painting) Painting by John William Waterhouse

Echo and Narcissus is a 1903 oil painting by John William Waterhouse. It illustrates the myth of Echo and Narcissus from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

<i>Boreas</i> (painting) Painting by John William Waterhouse

Boreas is an oil painting in the Pre-Raphaelite style created in 1903 by John William Waterhouse.

<i>The Magic Circle</i> (Waterhouse paintings) Two paintings by John William Waterhouse

The Magic Circle is an 1886 oil painting in the Pre-Raphaelite style by John William Waterhouse. Two copies of the painting were produced. The paintings and a study depict a witch or sorceress using a wand to draw a fiery magic circle on the Earth to create a ritual space for her ceremonial magic. As was common in the period, Waterhouse repeated his subject on a smaller scale, probably at the request of a collector.

<i>A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery</i> 1766 painting by Joseph Wright of Derby

A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery, or the full title, A Philosopher giving that Lecture on the Orrery in which a lamp is put in place of the Sun, is a 1766 painting by Joseph Wright of Derby depicting a lecturer giving a demonstration of an orrery – a mechanical model of the solar system – to a small audience. It is now in the Derby Museum and Art Gallery The painting preceded his similar An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump.

<i>The Lady of Shalott</i> (painting) Painting by John William Waterhouse

The Lady of Shalott is a painting of 1888 by the English painter John William Waterhouse. It is a representation of the ending of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 1832 poem of the same name. Waterhouse painted three versions of this character, in 1888, 1894 and 1915. It is one of his most famous works, which adopted much of the style of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, though Waterhouse was painting several decades after the Brotherhood split up during his early childhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Scrots</span> English painter

WilliamScrots was a painter of the Tudor court and an exponent of the Mannerist style of painting in the Netherlands.

<i>Saint Eulalia</i> (Waterhouse painting) Painting by John William Waterhouse

Saint Eulalia is an oil painting on canvas in the Pre-Raphaelite style, created in 1885 by English artist John William Waterhouse, depicting the aftermath of the death of Eulalia of Mérida. It is currently housed at Tate Britain.

<i>The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius</i> Painting by John William Waterhouse

The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius is a painting by John William Waterhouse completed in 1883. The painting depicts Honorius feeding birds which are on the rug in front of him; the dark colours of the rug and his clothes define a space. Separated from him and the birds are the councillors seeking his attention, and who along with the attendant are dressed in paler shades.

<i>The Unwelcome Companion: A Street Scene in Cairo</i> Painting by John William Waterhouse

The Unwelcome Companion: A Street Scene in Cairo is an early painting by John William Waterhouse. Completed in 1873, it was exhibited at the gallery of the Society of British Artists.

<i>I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott</i> Painting by John William Waterhouse

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott is a painting by John William Waterhouse completed in 1915. It is the third painting by Waterhouse that depicts a scene from the Tennyson poem, "The Lady of Shalott". The title of the painting is a quotation from the last two lines in the fourth and final verse of the second part of Tennyson's poem:

<i>The Sorceress</i> (Waterhouse) Painting by John William Waterhouse

The Sorceress is an oil-on-canvas painting by the English artist John William Waterhouse completed between 1911 and 1915. It is his third depiction, after Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses (1891) and Circe Invidiosa (1892), of the Greek mythological character, Circe, and her name is on the back of the canvas. The inclusion of leopards and the loom offer further evidence that the painting is of Circe.

<i>Sleep and His Half-Brother Death</i> Painting by John William Waterhouse

Sleep and His Half-Brother Death is a painting by John William Waterhouse completed in 1874.

<i>Hylas and the Nymphs</i> (painting) Painting by John William Waterhouse

Hylas and the Nymphs is an 1896 oil painting by John William Waterhouse. The painting depicts a moment from the Greek and Roman legend of the tragic youth Hylas, based on accounts by Ovid and other ancient writers, in which the enraptured Hylas is abducted by Naiads while seeking drinking water.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Crystal Ball" . Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  2. Hobson, Anthony. 1989. J. W. Waterhouse. Oxford: Phaidon Christie's. p. 81. ISBN   0-7148-8066-3
  3. Noakes, Aubrey. 2004. Waterhouse: John William Waterhouse. London: Chaucer Press. p. 76. ISBN   1-904449-39-5