IN 1804, an 18-year-old aspiring artist named Benjamin Robert Haydon arrived in London from his native Plymouth, determined to make a name for himself.
He had an introduction to another Devonian painter, James Northcote, who, on being told that Haydon planned to devote himself to history painting, exclaimed: 'Heestoricaul peinter! Why, yee'll starve with a bundle of straw under yeer head!'
Northcote was not far wrong, although it took several decades for Haydon's tragedy to play itself out: having taken his own life in 1846, his tombstone recorded that: 'He devoted 42 years to the improvement of the taste of the English people in high art and died broken-hearted from pecuniary distress.' Haydon is remembered today for his memoirs and journals, which depict the artistic and social life of Regency and early-Victorian London with unforgettable vividness, and his often vast canvases languish unloved in the storerooms of many museums and galleries.
Yet, he was far from neglected: his portraits of such figures as his friend William Wordsworth were admired and he had a gift for satire in 1827, George IV bought his painting The Mock Election for 500 guineas. But this did not satisfy Haydon, who longed to be recognised as a history painter. His most memorable achievement in the genre is Curtius Leaping into the Gulf, a scene from Livy's history of Rome: in order to appease the gods, Curtius on horseback leapt into a chasm that had opened in the Forum.
Curtius is a self-portrait of Haydon, who, it is implied, was heroically sacrificing himself, in his case in the cause of high art.
Denne historien er fra October 02,2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 02,2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning