Cymon and Iphigenia (after Reynolds) Signed and dated 1806
Enamel on copper | 25.1 x 33.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 404290
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The subject is taken from Giovanni Boccaccio’s fourteenth-century collection of stories entitled The Decameron. Cymon was the coarse and uneducated son of a Cyprian noble who was confined by his father to his country estates. While out wandering on the estate one summer morning, he came upon Iphigenia asleep by a stream and was instantly struck by her beauty and fell in love with her. Through the power of love he was transformed from country bumpkin to educated and polished courtier.This is a copy by Henry Bone (1755-1834) of a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds that was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1789. The painting remained in the artist’s studio until his death in 1792. This copy was commissioned in 1806 when the original painting still belonged to Reynolds’ niece, the Marchioness of Thomond. She presented it to George IV in 1814 and it is still in the Royal Collection (RCIN 404695).
Bone was born in Truro in Cornwall, the son of a woodcarver and cabinet maker, and began his artistic career painting on china for local manufacturers. In about 1779, he moved to London, where he became established as one of the most outstanding enamellists of his day. His children and grandchildren also became miniaturists. He painted designs for lockets, watches and jewellery. He was principally a copyist and his large-scale enamels were based on paintings by Old Masters and leading contemporary artists. He exhibited over 240 items at the Royal Academy between 1781 and 1832, when his eyesight began to fail. He was appointed enamel painter to the future George IV in 1801, before holding the same position to George III from 1809, and later George IV and William IV. Bone could obtain top prices for his work – in 1811 he received 2,200 guineas for his framed Bacchus and Ariadne. He was described by a contemporary as a ‘worthy, kind, liberal and affectionate man’.
The miniature is signed and dated on the lower right HBone / 1806, and inscribed by the artist on the reverse in black ink: Cymon and Iphigenia / London March 1806 / Painted for His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales by / Henry Bone A.R. A. Enamel painter to His R.H. / after the Original by the late Sir Joshua Reynolds / in the possession of the Most Noble the Marchioness of Thomond.
Provenance
Commissioned by George IV when Prince of Wales and listed in Bone's accounts dated 7 April 1806: 'Cymon and Iphigenia (after the late Sr Joshua Reynolds) square 13 inches by 9 3/4, Enamel £395.15.0. Framing in the same manner as the Death of Dido (its companion) £50.18.6' (RA GEO 27334); recorded in the Prince Regent's Bedroom at Carlton House in 1819 (no 188)
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Enamel on copper
Measurements
25.1 x 33.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
64.3 x 74.1 x 15.7 cm (frame, external)
Category
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Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Cymon and Iphigenia