-
1 of 253523 objects
The Wolf and the Lamb c. 1819-20
Oil on panel | 60.0 x 51.1 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 405539
-
On his way to school, a boy and his little dog have been set upon by another boy; a little girl is summoning help from the victim's mother, apparently a widow, in a neighbouring house. The title is the artist's own, which appears on engravings after the work and suggests that the central idea is a physiognomic comparison between a predatory and a meek boy. Contemporaries would have been more likely to spot the similarity between the face of the bully - with its protruding mussel especially shown up by the strict profile view - and that of a fierce animal. The physiognomic drawings of Charles Le Brun (1619-90) in the Louvre include a 'Wolf-Man', with a similar (if rather more pointed) profile and character. Contemporaries might also have read subsidiary narratives from the objects on the floor and the bird-cage and perhaps the similarity in expression between mother and son.
Provenance
Purchased by George IV in 1820 for 200 guineas; added to the inventories of Carlton House dated 1816 (no 582) and 1819 (no 577); sent to the King's Lodge in Windsor Park in 1824
-
Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
-
Medium and techniques
Oil on panel
Measurements
60.0 x 51.1 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
75.5 x 66.6 x 7.5 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
Featured in
ExhibitionGeorge IV: Art & Spectacle
A lavish exhibition looking at the monarch's life through the art that enriched his world