A figure weeping over a grave

1827 or 1829

Not on view

Within a lunette, an heroically muscled young man mourns within a churchyard, near a child’s grave. At right, a palm tree that bends sympathetically over the desolate figure recalls Biblical designs by William Blake, whom Richmond revered. The distant landscape, dotted with tiny buildings, displays a touch perfected during the artist's training as a miniaturist, and resembles brown ink drawings by his friend Samuel Palmer. Around 1826, the two young men had formed "The Ancients," an artistic brotherhood that looked closely at early Italian and Northern prints and found inspiration in the landscape near Shoreham in Kent. Richmond here melds romantic references – a graveyard setting, gothic church façade, and figure confronting mortality – with hints of divine comfort offered by nature.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

References

Title: A figure weeping over a grave
Artist: George Richmond (British, Brompton 1809–1896 London)
Date: 1827 or 1829
Medium: Pen and brown ink over graphite
Dimensions: lunette: 3 1/8 x 5 in. (8 x 12.7 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2009
Object Number: 2009.449
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By George Richmond

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Portrait of two children, George Richmond British, Watercolor and gouache (bodycolor) with touches of gum and gold, on yellow paper — Portrait of two children
George Richmond
1837

Compositional Study for "Comus–The Measure" (recto); Studies of a Man's Right Leg, after Titian, and a Profile, for "Comus–The Measure" (verso)

Multiple artists/makers

before 1864

"Jocund Day Stands Tip Toe on the Misty Mountain Tops" (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 5), George Richmond British, Graphite — "Jocund Day Stands Tip Toe on the Misty Mountain Tops" (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 5)
George Richmond
William Shakespeare
ca. 1830

Landscape at Margate, George Richmond British, Black chalk — Landscape at Margate
George Richmond
1840–60 (?)

Burdock, George Richmond British, Black and white chalk on blue-gray paper — Burdock
George Richmond
1820–90

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