.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The present picture is a copy after Titan's The Three Ages of Man, c.1511-12, (The National Gallery of Scotland, lent by the Duke of Sunderland).
In his Autobiographical Notes, John Linnell stated that 'Portraits I painted to live, but I lived to paint poetical landscape' (Redhill, 1864, p.13). His passion for lyrical landscape painting was fed by an admiration for Titian, and the present work is a fine example of the depth of his interest in Titian's work. David Linnell has suggested that it is likely that the artist painted the present work for his own collection, and that it was probably sold by the family after Linnell's death in 1882.
John Linnell entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1805 aged 13, and later participated in the naturalist movement, completing sketches from nature along the River Thames with William Henry Hunt (1790-1864) and William Mulready (1786-1863). He was a close supporter of Samuel Palmer (1805-1881), and of William Blake (1757-1827), commissioning the watercolours for Dante's Divine Comedy in 1824 and the engravings for the Book of Job in 1826.
In his Autobiographical Notes, John Linnell stated that 'Portraits I painted to live, but I lived to paint poetical landscape' (Redhill, 1864, p.13). His passion for lyrical landscape painting was fed by an admiration for Titian, and the present work is a fine example of the depth of his interest in Titian's work. David Linnell has suggested that it is likely that the artist painted the present work for his own collection, and that it was probably sold by the family after Linnell's death in 1882.
John Linnell entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1805 aged 13, and later participated in the naturalist movement, completing sketches from nature along the River Thames with William Henry Hunt (1790-1864) and William Mulready (1786-1863). He was a close supporter of Samuel Palmer (1805-1881), and of William Blake (1757-1827), commissioning the watercolours for Dante's Divine Comedy in 1824 and the engravings for the Book of Job in 1826.