'The Gilded Cage' (a Female Captive)
St George Hare (Limerick 1857 – London 1933)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1908
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1270 x 1016 mm (50 x 40 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 732353
Caption
“She's only a bird in a gilded cage, A beautiful sight to see, You may think she's happy and free from care, She's not, though she seems to be,” The title of the picture echoes that of the popular ballad of 1900. It was painted by an Irish artist favoured by Alda Weston, Lady Hoare (1861 -1947) of Stourhead from about 1907 – 1914 and the subject matter may have symbolic meaning. Only a piece of brown drapery covers the thighs of a woman sitting in a brightly-lit hallway with her back up against a wall. Her arms are raised above her head and her hands are in chains. Butterflies flutter by freely. It is not the first time Hare painted shackled females. Twenty years before he made the Victory of Faith which was exhibited at the Royal Academy to acclaim and is now in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, 'The Gilded Cage' (a Female Captive) by St George Hare (Limerick 1857 - London 1933), 1908, signed, bottom left: HARE. A semi-naked woman sits in a brightly-lit stone hallway with her back up against a wall on the right. A piece of brown drapery covers her legs and thighs. Her arms are raised above her head and her hands are in chains. She looks down towards butterflies on the bottom right. The title of the picture echoes that of a popular turn-of the century song and the subject matter is symbolic.
Provenance
Bought from the artist in 1913; 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)
Makers and roles
St George Hare (Limerick 1857 – London 1933), artist