A Lion Hunt
James Northcote, RA (Plymouth 1746 – London 1831)
National Trust Inventory Number 486164
| Category |
Paintings |
| Date |
1819 |
| Materials |
Oil on canvas |
| Measurements |
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| Place of origin |
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Painted in 1819, this Rubensian composition derives in part from Rubens’ Lion Hunt now in the Dresden Gallery. Northcote’s later paintings often depicted animals and were far more lucrative for the artist than his earlier historical works, leading his rival, Fuseli, to remark ‘Northcote, you are an angel at an ass, but an ass at an angel.’
Summary description
Oil painting on canvas, A Lion Hunt by James Northcote, RA (Plymouth 1746 – London 1831). 1819. A lion hunt with a man on a rearing grey horse with a lion on his back and at left, a footman spearing the lion. At right there is another horseman, a black attendant and a lioness and cubs.
Provenance
In the collection of the 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837) by 1835. Thence by descent, until the death in 1952 of the 3rd Lord Leconfield, who had given Petworth to the National Trust in 1947, and whose nephew and heir, John Wyndham, 6th Lord Leconfield and 1st Lord Egremont (1920-72) arranged for the acceptance of the major portion of the collections at Petworth in lieu of death duties (the first ever such arrangement) in 1956 by H.M.Treasury.
Marks and inscriptions
James Northcote. Pinxit 1819
Makers and roles
James Northcote, RA (Plymouth 1746 – London 1831), artist
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