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Other titles
Geoffrey Chaucer reading the "Legend of Custance" to Edward III and his court, at the palace of Sheen, on the anniversary of the Black Prince's forty-fifth birthday
1847-1851
Painting
oil on canvas
372.0 x 296.0cm stretcher; 391.0 x 315.0 x 8.0cm frame
Purchased 1876
703
Art Gallery of NSW, Ground Level, British & European 19th Century Art Galleries, Court 12
Further information
Though never officially a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, this colleague of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Morris was, by inclination and practice, sympathetic to the realist ambitions of the movement. Born in Calais, Madox Brown studied in Belgium and was influenced by the German Nazarene painters in Rome before his first liaison with Pre-Raphaelitism. Working with pure colours and clear contours on a dazzling white ground, and carefully composing his subjects from well-lit life, Brown achieved a sense of pageantry in this tableau. Its lower portions are especially immediate, an extensive cleaning having revealed the glorious condition of the original paintwork. Though Brown began his original composition in Rome, the final canvas was begun in London in 1847, and completed in 1851. Rosetti modelled for Chaucer, while others of the Pre-Raphaelite circle appear as supernumeraries. It was Brown's desire in this, surely one of the greatest modern British paintings in Australia, to encapsulate an historical moment: the birth of the English language in the person of Chaucer. The Tate Gallery in London possesses a study for the work, exact in detail but much reduced in scale.
AGNSW Handbook, 1999.
Provenance
Ford Madox Brown (England, b.1821, d.1893), Nov 1863-Jun 1876, England, Purchased by the AGNSW from the artist 1876
D.T. White (England), 1855-Nov 1863, [dealer] Failed to sell at unspecified auction, thence sold to White for £50. Brown retreived the painting from White, November 1863, in exchange for six paintings.
Robert Dickinson (England), 1850-1855, London/England, [dealer] Sold to Dickinson for 85% of any future sale. Dickinson paid £20 on account to Madox Brown.
Bibliography
Reference book; Art of Australia. Vol. 1: Exploration to Federation; John McDonald (Australia, b.1961); 2008, 250, 251 (colour illus.), ‘Shelter of freedom and boast of the world’, pg. 225-270.
Book; Visions of antiquity; Susan Pearce; 2007, 136, 137 (illus.), 'Art and antiquity in the long nineteenth century' by Sam Smiles, pg.123-145, fig.45
Periodical; Look; Jill Sykes (Australia); Mar 2006, 18 (colour illus.), 19, 'The Chaucer Tales' by Jane Somerville, pg.18-19
Exhibition catalogue; Pre-Raphaelite vision: truth to nature; Allen Staley, Christopher Newall; 2004, 66, 67 (illus.), fig.16, illustrated in reference to cat.no. 26
Book; Men at work: art and labour in Victorian Britain; Tim Barringer; 2004, (illus.)
Exhibition catalogue; Love and Death: art in the age of Queen Victoria; Angus Trumble (Australia); 2001, 62 (colour illus.), 63, 66, 67 (colour illus.), 86, 194, 195 (colour illus.), 'Historical & Modern? Ford Madox Brown's Chaucer' by Timothy Barringer, pg.63-69; 'Images of the past in Victorian painting' by Elizabeth Prettejohn, pg.85-90, the illustrations on page 62 and 67 are details
General/Book; Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook; Bruce James (Australia), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940); 1999, 35 (colour illus.), 'Western Collection: Paintings and Sculpture' by Bruce James, pg. 17-77.
Annual report; Art Gallery of New South Wales Annual Report 1999; Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874); 1999, 6, 'Director's Introduction' pg. 5-7
Book; Brought to light: Australian Art 1850-1965; Lynne Seear (Australia), Julie Ewington (Australia); 1998, 22, 'Learning from the First Lesson: George Folingsby and Genre Painting. G.F. Folingsby The first lesson' by Doug Hall, pg. 22-25.
Scholarly/Book; British painting 1800-1990 in Australian and New Zealand public collections; Peter Tomory (United Kingdom), Anne Kirker (New Zealand; Australia, b.1947); 1997, 10 (colour illus.), 58, cat.no. 271
General/Book; The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections; Ewen McDonald (Australia); 1994, 108, 132 (colour illus.), 133, 'The Western Heritage, Renaissance to Twentieth Century' by Renée Free, pg. 108-172.
Periodical; Look; Wendy Symonds (Australia); Feb 1993, 9 (colour illus.), 'Chaucer Gets A Facelift', pg. 9.
General/Book; Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook; Annabel Davie; 1988, 44, 45 (illus.), 'European' by Renée Free, pg. 36-56.
Book; Art Gallery of New South Wales catalogue of British paintings; Renée Free (Australia); 1987, 20 (illus.), 21
Book; The Pre-Raphaelites; Tate Britain (England); 1985, cat.no. 7
Periodical; Pre-Raphaelite Papers; Editor Unknown; 1985, 'The Pre-Raphaelites and Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts' by J. Treuherz.
Book; Portrait of a Gallery; Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940), Jan Meek (Australia); 1984, 14, 15 (colour illus.), 'European art in the old courts', pg. 14-23.
Book; The Pre-Raphaelites; Christopher Wood (England, b.1941); 1981
Brochure; History and Legend in some selected paintings at the Art Gallery of New South Wales; Patricia Crawford (Australia); 1980, 15
Book; And when did you last see your father; Sir Roy Colin Strong (England, b.1935); 1978
Book; Ford Madox Brown and the Pre-Raphaelite History Picture; Lucy Rabin; 1978, (illus.)
Periodical; Acquisitions 1975; Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874); 1975
Book; The Pre-Raphaelite Landscape; Allen Staley; 1973
Book; Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook; Editor Unknown; 1972, 26 (colour illus.)
Book; The Pre-Raphaelites; John Nicholl; 1970
Exhibition catalogue; Ford Madox Brown 1821-1893; Manchester City Art Gallery (England); 1964, (illus.), cat.no. 11
Book; The Nazarenes; Keith Andrews; 1964, 167
Periodical; Art Gallery of New South Wales Quarterly; Daniel Thomas; Oct 1962
Exhibition catalogue; Pre-Raphaelite art: paintings, drawings, engravings, sculpture, tapestries, chintzes, wallpapers; Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874); 1962, (illus.), cat.no. 3
Exhibition catalogue; The Adelaide Festival of Arts 1962: Special exhibitions at the National Gallery of South Australia; Author Unknown; 1962, 'The Pre-Raphaelites and their circle', not paginated, cat. no. 3
Periodical; Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes; Editor Unknown; 1954
Book; Adventures in Art; Author Unknown; circa 1945, 4
Exhibition catalogue; Catalogue of Drawings; Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery (England); 1939
Book; New South Wales Art Gallery Pictures; National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874); 1931, (colour illus.), plate no. 11
Book; The English Pre-Raphaelite painters; Percy Bate; 1901, (illus.)
Book; Pre-Raphaelite Diaries and Letters; William Michael Rossetti (England, b.1829, d.1919); 1900
Book; Rossetti; F.G. Stephens; 1894
Exhibition venue
Title: Love and Death: art in the age of Queen Victoria
Organizer: Art Gallery of South Australia
Venue: Art Gallery of New South Wales
Opening: 16 Mar 2002
Closing: 12 May 2002
Curator: Trumble, Angus
Notes: Not travelling, exhibited in Sydney only
Title: Ford Madox Brown 1821-1893
Organizer: Walker Art Gallery
Venue: Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery
Opening: 09 Jan 1965
Closing: 31 Jan 1965
Curator: Arts Council of Great Britain
Notes: No. 11
Venue: Manchester City Art Gallery
Opening: 05 Dec 1964
Closing: 02 Jan 1965
Curator: Arts Council of Great Britain
Notes: No. 11
Title: Pre-Raphaelite art: paintings, drawings, engravings, sculpture, tapestries, chintzes, wallpapers
Venue: Art Gallery of New South Wales
Opening: 03 Oct 1962
Closing: 28 Oct 1962
Notes: cat.no. 3
Title: The Pre-Raphaelites and their Circle: Adelaide Festival of Arts 1962
Organizer: Adelaide Festival of Arts
Venue: National Gallery of South Australia
Opening: Mar 1962
Closing: Mar 1962
Notes: cat. no. 3
Title: The exhibition of work and other paintings by Ford Madox Brown
Venue: Piccadilly Gallery
Opening: 1865
Closing: 1865
Notes: No. 1
Title: Liverpool Academy, 1858
Venue: Liverpool Academy
Opening: 1858
Closing: 1858
Notes: No. 140 gained the £50 prize
Title: Paris Exposition Universelle, 1855
Venue: Exhibition Venue Unknown
Opening: 15 May 1855
Closing: 15 Nov 1855
Title: Royal Academy of Arts, 1851
Venue: Royal Academy of Arts
Opening: 1851
Closing: 1851
Notes: No. 380
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