Sir William Quiller Orchardson

Her Mother’s Voice

exhibited 1888

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

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Not on display

Artist: Sir William Quiller Orchardson 1832–1910
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: Support: 1016 × 1486 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Presented by Sir Henry Tate 1894
Reference: N01521

Display caption

The widower in the foreground looks up as he thinks for a moment that he hears his late wife's voice as his daughter, whom he cannot see, begins to sing. The picture was exhibited with lines from Tennyson's poem Break, break, break:

But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand/ And the sound of a voice that is still.

The poetic quote underscores the deeply sentimental nature of this painting.

Gallery label, August 2004

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