Thomas Seddon

Jerusalem and the Valley of Jehoshaphat from the Hill of Evil Counsel

1854–5

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In Tate Britain

Historic and Modern British Art: Beauty as Protest: 1845–1905

Artist: Thomas Seddon 1821–1856
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: Frame: 870 × 1030 × 100 mm
support: 673 × 832 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Presented by subscribers 1857
Reference: N00563

Display caption

Seddon and his friend Holman Hunt journeyed to the Holy Land in 1854, to bring greater authenticity, spiritual and topographical, to their religious works. This view, painted south of Jerusalem, shows the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane, the site of Christ’s anguish before the Crucifixion. The valley of Jehoshaphat was also believed to be where the Last Judgement would take place. Unlike John Martin’s apocalyptic visions, displayed nearby, Seddon represents the site in painstaking, sun-lit detail, paralleling the art critic John Ruskin’s remarks that ‘in following the steps of nature’, artists were ‘tracing the finger of God.’

Gallery label, March 2010

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