The Surgeon extracting the Dart from the Wound of Menelaus
John Michael Rysbrack (Antwerp 1684 – London 1770)
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
1720 - 1767 (date of sale)
Materials
Pen, ink and brown wash with some red chalk heightened with white on paper
Measurements
266 x 368 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 730989
Summary
Pen and ink with brown wash (bistre) and some red chalk heightened with white drawing on paper, The Surgeon Extracting the Dart from the Wound of Menelaus by John Michael Rysbrack (Antwerp 1694 – London 1770). The king supported by a group of warriors; tents right, a classical temple partly visible, left. On a piece of paper stuck to the back of the mount are inscribed in the artist's hand six lines from Alexander Pope's translation (1807) of the Greek poet Homer's epic Iliad IV (242-8): 'The heavy Tidings griev'd the God-like Man/ Swift to his succour through the ranks he ran/ The dauntless king yet standing firm he found/ And all the chiefs in deep concern around.' An imaginative, rather than working, drawing.
Provenance
Bought by Henry Hoare II (1705-1785) at the artist's sale, 14 February 1767, lot 28; thence by descent; given to the National Trust along with the house, its grounds, and the rest of the contents by Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Bt (1865 – 1947) in 1946
Credit line
Stourhead, The Hoare Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Top centre: The heavy Tidings griev'd the Godlike man; Swift to his succour thro' the Ranks he ran: The dauntless king yet standing firm he found, And all the Chiefs in deep Concern around Where to the Steely Point the Reed was join'd, The Shaft he drew, but left the Head behind.
Makers and roles
John Michael Rysbrack (Antwerp 1684 – London 1770), artist
References
Webb 1954: M. I. Webb, Michael Rysbrack, Sculptor, London 1954, p.185 Michael Rysbrack, sculptor, 1694-1770 (ed. Katherine Eustace), Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, 06/03/1982-01/05/1982, 93