The Murder of the Princes in the Tower, King Edward V (1470-1483?) and his Brother Prince Richard Duke of York (1473-1483?) (from William Shakespeare's 'Richard III', Act IV scene iii)
James Northcote, RA (Plymouth 1746 – London 1831)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1786 - 1786 (exh at RA)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1780 x 1370 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Petworth House and Park, West Sussex
NT 485044
Caption
John Boydell launched his scheme to commission artists to paint scenes from Shakespeare’s plays in the autumn of 1786. He had already bought James Northcote’s Princes in the Tower, based on Richard III, which had been exhibited at the Royal Academy earlier in the year to great acclaim. Critics are known to have compared the picture to Old Masters as diverse as Guido Reni and Michelangelo when it was on show at the Pall Mall Gallery three years later. Visitors liked the plain and natural style of his history paintings.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Murder of the Princes in the Tower: King Edward V (1470-1483?) and his Brother Prince Richard Duke of York (1473-1483?) (from William Shakespeare's Richard III, Act IV scene iii) by James Northcote RA (Plymouth 1746 – London 1831), 1786. The painting shows the Princes in the Tower in 1483 (King Edward V (1470-1483) and his brother Prince Richard, Duke of York (1473-1483) asleep in each others' arms, a man in armour is kneeling on their bed with a bolster with a man by him holding a lamp. The murder which does not take place on stage is described by Sir James Tyrrel: "The tyrannous and bloody act is done, The most arch deed of piteous massacre That ever yet this land was guilty of Dighton and Forrest, whom I did suborn To do this piece of ruthful butchery, Albeit they were flesh'd villains, bloody dogs, Melting with tendeness and mild compassion, Wept like to children in their death's sad story. 'O thus' quoth Dighton 'lay the gentle babes: 'Thus, thus,' quoth Forrest, 'girdling one another Within their alabaster innocent arms: Their lips were four red roses on a stalk, Which in their summer beauty kiss'd each other. A book of prayers on their pillow lay; Which once' quoth Forrest, 'almost chang'd my mind".
Provenance
Bought from James Northcote by Alderman John Boydell for his Shakespeare Gallery; sold at the Boydell Sale by Christies's on Monday 20 May 1805 to P. W. Baker M.P. for £94.10s; in the 3rd Earl of Egremont's (1751-1837) collection in 1835; By descent to the current Lord Egremont. On loan from the Egremont Private Collection
Credit line
Petworth, The Egremont Collection
Makers and roles
James Northcote, RA (Plymouth 1746 – London 1831), artist
References
Waagen 1857 Gustav Waagen, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, London, 1857, vol.III, p.38 Solkin 2015 David H. Solkin, Art in Britain 1660 - 1815, Pelican History of Art, Yale University Press, 2015, p. 183, fig. 180