The Lady in Milton's Comus
| The Lady in Milton's Comus | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Joseph Wright of Derby |
| Year | 1785 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, landscape painting |
| Dimensions | 101 cm × 127 cm (40 in × 50 in) |
| Location | Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool |
The Lady in Milton's Comus is a 1785 history painting by the British artist Joseph Wright of Derby. [1] It is inspired by a passage from John Milton's Comus. A young woman, lost in a forest and distressed by strange noise, recovers her courage when the moon suddenly breaks through the clouds. [2]
It was one of twenty five paintings that Wright displayed in a personal exhibition in Covent Garden in April 1785 rather than at the Summer Exhibition of 1785 held by the Royal Academy who he was in dispute with. [3] The painting in the collection of the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, having been acquired in 1902. [4]
It was the companion piece of The Indian Widow, produced the same year and now in the Derby Art Gallery.[5]
References
- ^ Graciano p.118
- ^ https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/lady-miltons-comus
- ^ Leach p.159-60
- ^ https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/lady-miltons-comus
- ^ Bamford & Wallis p.69
Bibliography
- Bamford, Lucy & Wallis, Jonathan. Joseph Wright of Derby. Derby Museums, 2017.
- Graciano, Andrew. Joseph Wright, Esq. Painter and Gentleman. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021.
- Leach, Stephen H. Joseph Wright and the Final Farewell. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2022.