The Murder of the Princes in the Tower
| The Murder of the Princes in the Tower | |
|---|---|
| Artist | James Northcote |
| Year | 1786 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, history painting |
| Dimensions | 137 cm × 178 cm (54 in × 70 in) |
| Location | Petworth House, Sussex |
The Murder of the Princes in the Tower is a 1786 history painting by the British artist James Northcote.[1] It depicts a scene from the late fifteenth century England, referencing William Shakespeare's Richard III. The children of the former monarch Edward IV are about to be smothered to death in the Tower of London on the orders of his brother Richard III.[2]
Northcote displayed the work at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1786 at Somerset House, after which it was bought by the publisher John Boydell. It was exhibited at his Shakespeare Gallery in Pall Mall. It was subsequently acquired by the art collector George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont for his country estate at Petworth House in Sussex. It remains in the collection at Petworth, now owned by the National Trust. [3]
See also
- The Children of Edward, an 1830 painting by Paul Delaroche
References
- ^ Porter p.66
- ^ Bann p.96-97
- ^ https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/485044
Bibliography
- Bann, Stephen. Paul Delaroche: History Painted. Reaktion Books, 1997.
- Baudino, Isabelle. Eighteenth-Century Engravings and Visual History in Britain. Taylor & Francis, 2023.
- Porter, Stephen. The Tower of London: The Biography. Amberley Publishing, 2012.