In Tate Britain
Walk Through British Art: 1840
Free entry- Artist
- Ford Madox Brown 1821–1893
- Medium
- Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions
- Support: 1232 x 991 mm
frame: 1490 x 1263 x 115 mm - Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Purchased 1906
- Reference
- N02063
Display caption
This picture is a replica of Ford Madox Brown’s largest and most ambitious painting, exhibited in 1851. It was significant for its portrayal of natural sunlight and was his first attempt ‘to carry out the notion ... of treating the light and shade absolutely, as it exists at any one moment, instead of approximately or in generalized style’. This pursuit of ‘truth to nature’ was consistent with Pre-Raphaelite ideals, as was his careful workmanship. The picture’s subject, Geoffrey Chaucer, reflects the growing popularity with artists of English literature instead of more conventional classical myths and biblical tales.
Gallery label, November 2016
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