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Lot Essay
Bernard Sleigh was born in Birmingham, where he spent most of his life, later teaching at the Birmingham School of Art. Like most of the Birmingham group of artists he was influenced by the philosophy and style of Sir Edward Coley Burne Jones and William Morris, and in addition to oils and watercolours, he was an acomplished wood engraver, stained glass and mural painter and an illustrator. He studied at the South Kensington Schools, and the 'ESK' stamped on the reverse of this canvas is an indication that the work dates from this period. It has been suggested that the most likely date is 1893.
Valkyries are warrior-maidens, minor deities in Norse mythology. After leading the heroes into combat, their function is to choose the bravest slain warriors from the battlefields to fight for Odin, the king of the gods, at Ragnarök, the prophesied final battle at the end of the world. The subject of Valkyries, popularised by Richard Wagner in Valkyries, the second of four operas that comprise his Ring Cycle, was particularly fashionable in the late 19th Century.
Valkyries are warrior-maidens, minor deities in Norse mythology. After leading the heroes into combat, their function is to choose the bravest slain warriors from the battlefields to fight for Odin, the king of the gods, at Ragnarök, the prophesied final battle at the end of the world. The subject of Valkyries, popularised by Richard Wagner in Valkyries, the second of four operas that comprise his Ring Cycle, was particularly fashionable in the late 19th Century.