Distress by Sea, from James Thomson's poem, 'The Seasons' (1726-31)
Henry Thomson RA (London 1773 – Portsea 1843)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1804 - 1804 (exhibited at the RA)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2375 x 1454 mm ( 93 1/2 x 57 1/4 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 732138
Caption
This is a bleak scene of a young boy sitting on a rock besides a stormy sea. It is inspired by lines from ‘Winter’ (1726), written shortly after the death of his mother from the first part of the poem, The Seasons (1730) by the Scottish playwright and poet, James Thomson (1770-1748) and adapted on the frame label: "Sad on a jutting eminence he sits,/And views the main that ever toils below/Still fondly forming in the distant verge,/Ships dim discover'd dropping from the clouds./At evening, to the setting sun he turns/A mournful eye, and down his dying heart/Sinks helpless" The romantically ‘Gothic’ picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1814.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Distress by Sea by Henry Thomson RA (London 1773 - Portsea 1843), circa 1804. The picture illustrates lines from James Thomson's poem, The Seasons (1726-31). A young shipwrecked mariner is seen sitting upon an isolated rock, benumbed with cold and abandoned to despair; above his head hovers a kite, an emblem of his approaching fate.
Provenance
Acquired by Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Bt (1758 – 1838) before 1822; given to the National Trust along with the house, its grounds, and the rest of contents by Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Bt (1865 – 1947) in 1946.
Credit line
Stourhead, The Hoare Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Recto, inscribed on a tablet on the frame: "Sad on a jutting eminence he sits, And views the main that ever toils below Still fondly forming in the distant verge, Ships dim discover'd dropping from the clouds. At evening, to the setting sun he turns A mournful eye, and down his dying heart Sinks helpless" Verso: in ink on back of shell crest: For Mariner Verso: in chalk on back of canvas in florid script: Mr B [**] half paid
Makers and roles
Henry Thomson RA (London 1773 – Portsea 1843), artist