The Meeting of Wellington and Blucher after the Battle of Waterloo
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Research by Anne Matthews and Marjorie Gregson
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The Meeting of Wellington and Blücher after the Battle of Waterloo
after Daniel Maclise
The Death of Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar after Daniel Maclise
ARTIST
Daniel Maclise was born in Cork, Ireland, on 25 January 1806, the son of Alexander McLish (also known as McLeish, McClisse or McLise), a tanner or shoemaker but formerly a Scottish Highlander soldier. After a brief period working in a bank, Maclise's passion for drawing led him to pursue a career in art which he studied at the Cork Society of Arts. His lifelong interest in antiquities began through his acquaintance with the antiquarian, Richard Sainthill, and folklorist, Thomas Crofton Croker. Maclise copied from their collections and they secured commissions for the young artist from their circle of wealthy and influential friends. He moved to London in 1826, entering the Royal Academy schools in 1828, where he excelled as a student, particularly in life drawing and history painting. He began exhibiting in the RA in 1829 and in 1835 his Chivalric Vow of the Ladies and The Peacock procured his election as associate of the Academy, of which he became full member in 1840. Alongside his successful career as an artist Maclise also worked as an illustrator, contributing between 1830 and 1836 to Fraser's Magazine (under the pseudonym Alfred Croquis) a remarkable series of portraits of the literary and other celebrities of the time, which were afterwards published as the Maclise Portrait Gallery (1871). He also illustrated, amongst others, works by Milton, Tennyson, Thomas Moore and Charles Dickens. In 1846 Maclise was commissioned to paint murals in the House of Lords on such subjects as Justice and Chivalry. However, he is perhaps best remembered for his two monumental history paintings, shown above, on the walls of Westminster Palace. Commenced in 1858, The Meeting of Wellington and Blucher after the Battle of Waterloo was begun as a fresco, a process which proved unmanageable. Maclise wished to resign the task but encouraged by Prince Albert he went to Berlin to study the new method of water-glass painting, adopting that medium to carry out the work and also its companion piece, The Death of Nelson, completed in 1864. Unfortunately, working on these frescos put a great strain on his health, although in his later years he continued working on scenes from the works of Shakespeare, as well as being actively involved in the RA. He died on 25 April 1870 of acute pneumonia at his home, 4 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery, London. ENGRAVINGS These line engravings were published by The Art Union in 1876 after the 1868 original wall paintings by Daniel Maclise in the Royal Gallery at the Palace of Westminster. Wellington and Blucher mounted on horses, with cavalry behind them, shake hands in front of ruined buildings surrounded by numerous mounted and dismounted soldiers and bandsman; dead and wounded lying in the foreground. The French army is seen in pursuit along the road behind. A somewhat fanciful rendering of one of the great melodramatic moments in history. LUMB STOCKS - ENGRAVER Lumb Stocks was born on 29 November 1812 at Lightcliffe, near Halifax, to William Stocks, a coal-mine owner and Mary, nee Lumb. He was educated at Horton, near Bradford and while there he received instruction in drawing from Charles Cope, the father of Charles West Cope RA. At the age of fifteen he moved to London and was articled to Charles Rolls, the line engraver, and in 1832 he exhibited Portrait of a Young Artist at the Royal Academy. On the expiration of his articles in 1833 he began to practise his art by engraving some excellent plates for the annuals then in vogue. He next engraved for Finden's 'Royal Gallery of British Art', which included Preparing Moses for the Fair from the Vicar of Wakefield after Maclise, going on to produce highly accomplished work for the Art Union of London and the Association for the Promotion of Fine Arts in Scotland as well as several plates for the Art Journal from pictures in the Royal and Vernon collections. In 1853 Stocks was elected an associate engraver of the Royal Academy and in 1855 became an associate engraver of the new class, which rendered him eligible for the higher rank of academician, to which he was elected in 1871. In February 1866 the Art Union of London commissioned Stocks to engrave The Meeting of Wellington and Blucher after the Battle of Waterloo from the painting in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords. Stocks died at 9 Richmond Villas, Seven Sisters Road, Holloway, London on 28 April 1892 and was buried in Highgate Cemetery. His second son, Walter Fryer Stocks (1842-1915) and his third son, Arthur Stocks (1846-1889) were both painters whose works were exhibited at the Royal Academy and elsewhere. A portrait of him was painted by Arthur and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1885. CHARLES W SHARPE - ENGRAVER Charles William Sharpe was born in Birmingham in 1818. The 1861 census shows him living with his wife, Ellen (b.1819), their seven children, a servant and a nursemaid at 3 Hilldrop Road, Islington, London. At one period he was an examiner to the Maidenhead Technical College. The first of his works, which brought him to the public eye, was Frith's Ramsgate Sands, which was then placed in the possession of Queen Victoria. Highly skilled, and much in demand, his successful career appears to have run on similar lines to Lumb Stocks; there was hardly an art journal of his time that did not carry a specimen of his work. As with Stocks, it was the Art Union of London who commissioned him to carry out the engraving of The Death of Nelson, after Maclise, published in 1876. He died at his residence, The Ferns, Burnham, in November 1899. His obituary was in several newspapers. |
The Meeting of Wellington and Blücher after the Battle of Waterloo
Acc No Artist after Daniel Maclise Artist dates 1806-1870 Engraver Lumb Stocks Engraver dates 1812- 1892 Size unknown Medium engraving Date produced 1876 Donor gift from Ranald Rigby Date donated 23 December 1946 The Death of Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar Acc No Artist after Daniel Maclise Artist dates 1806-1870 Engraver Charles W Sharpe Engraver dates 1818--1899 Size unknown Medium engraving Date produced 1876 Donor gift from Ranald Rigby Date donated 23 December 1946 REFERENCES
www.royalacademy.org.uk www.nationalgallery.ie www.tate.org with link to biography on Wikipedia www.artuk.org www.invaluable.comwww.npg.org.uk www.artnet.com Collection of 59 paintings by Daniel Maclise is available on YouTube www.en.wikisource.org/wiki/Stocks_Lumb(DNB00) Maidenhead Advertiser - 22 November 1899 Find my past newspapers |
