Virgin and Child Adored by Angels by Eleanor Vere Boyle (1825-1916). 1861-70. © The Trustees of the British Museum, on the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license. Museum's asset number 1613651364. Brown ink, heightened with white body-colour on vellum. Height: 191 millimetres (Approx height (visible framed area)) Width: 295 millimetres (Approx width (visible framed area)). This framed work came from the collection of the art historian, John Christian, as recently as 2019.
Left: The work in its frame, as presented on the British Museum website.
Familiar as it is, the scene is typical of this artist in several ways, such as the presence of the little cherubs or puttis in different, natural postures, and the unmistakably loving expression on Mary's face. The angular wings of the angels help to offset any sentimentality, while bringing the composition together to focus on a sleeping infant Jesus. Also giving emotional depth and complexity to the scene is the distant glimpse of Calvary through the central window-opening. There are several doves here, not just one, and in the foreground a cherub touches a vase of lilies. Another angel plays an instrument. It is a beautiful work, Pre-Raphaelite in detail, but very personal in feeling. — Jacqueline Banerjee
Bibliography
"Eleanor Vere Boyle." British Museum. Web. 19 June 2020.
Created 19 Jume 2020