'Watchman, What of the Night?' (Dame Ellen Terry [1847-1928] and previously called Joan of Arc by Watts)
George Frederic Watts (London 1817 - Compton 1904)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1867
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
635 x 483 mm (25 x 19 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Smallhythe Place, Kent
NT 1117002
Summary
Oil painting on panel, 'Watchman, What of the Night?' (Dame Ellen Terry [1847-1928]) (previously called Joan of Arc by Watts) by George Frederic Watts OM, RA, (London 1817 - Compton 1904), circa 1867. A half-length portrait of the artist's first wife, in armour clutching sword, looking to left, her face in three-quarter profile. Probably not finished until after Ellen Terry left her husband. Watts originally called the painting 'Joan of Arc' and changed it to 'Watchman, what of the Night' afterwards. The latter title comes from Isaiah 21:11: "The burden of Dúmah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" Dúmah (a word play on Edom) is deep, utter silence, and therefore the land of the dead. The Biblical Edomites were looking for deliverance from the night of the Babylonian threat that was upon them. The duplication of the expression "Watchman, what of the night?" represents the intensity at which the Edomites felt the pressing of the night. And so they cry out to the prophet, Isaiah. The reply comes in verse, 12: "The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come." The morning was coming for Israel and the night for Edom. Spiritually, the morning came for those who inquire and repent, the night for those who do not. The painting therefore probably has symbolic meaning. An etching was made of it by Paul-Adolphe Rajon (Dijon 1842/3 - Auvers-sur-Oise 1888) in 1881, an example of which is in the British Museum.
Provenance
Owned by Sir William Agnew, 1st Bt (1825-1910) when exhibited at Grosvenor Gallery in 1882;[...]; Sotheby's London, 20 March 1968, lot 111;on loan from Dr Emily Ryder previously on loan from Dr Richard Ryder
Makers and roles
George Frederic Watts (London 1817 - Compton 1904), artist