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Lot Essay
The subject for this work is taken from Sir Walter Scott's novel, Woodstock, first published in 1826. Accepted for the Paris Salon of 1831, along with the famous Liberty Leading the People, this scene was described in the official catalogue as, 'Ayant retourné par hasard un portrait de Charles Ier, il [Cromwell] tombe à cette vue dans une méditation profonde; il oublie qu'il a un témoin qui l'observe: c'est un espion du parti royaliste qui a obtenu accès auprès de lui. (Woodstock, de Walter Scott)'.
The episode is from Chapter VIII in Scott's novel:
Wildrake [the cavalier] stood silent, inactive, and almost a terrified spectator, while Cromwell, assuming a firm sternness of eye and manner, as one who compels himself to look on what some strong internal feeling renders painful and disgustful to him, proceeded...to comment on the portrait of the late King...'that Antonio Vandyke - what a power he has! Steel may mutilate, warriors may waste and destroy - still the King stands uninjured by time'. (Woodstock, Everyman edn. 1969, p. 99).
French interest in British historical themes and literature, and in the works of Sir Walter Scott in particular, reached its apogée in this period. Indeed, the works of Sir Walter Scott represented a third of all novels published in France between 1820 and 1830 (B. Jobert, op. cit., p. 114). For the painters of the Romantic School, and their patrons, Scott's novels provided many rich and varied themes for depiction. Delacroix was well acquainted with Scott's novels, however, he may have been inspired to paint Cromwell at Windsor Castle having seen one of the two French stage adaptations of Woodstock performed in Paris in March 1828. A summary sketch for the pose of Cromwell with three alternative poses for Wildrake, some very close to the final stance, are on a sheet of studies in the Art Institute of Chicago.
Delacroix had first depicted a scene from Scott in 1823 with Rebecca and the Wounded Ivanhoe (fig. 1), however, after 1825 he painted a number of these small format paintings, which in their size, subject and composition, are a distinct and interesting group apart from the rest of Delacroix's oeuvre. Indeed, they are stylistically very close to the works of Richard Parkes Bonnington (1802-28), with whom Delacroix became friends in 1818. Together, Delacroix and Bonnington, explored a number of themes with literary references and shared a similar handling of colour and composition. Their paintings were highly sought after on the Anglo-French market, indeed, most were painted for private collections and were not destined for the Salon, which makes the present work very unusual. It is interesting to note, however, that Paul Delaroche (1797-1856) also submitted a painting on this theme to the 1831 Salon (no. 2720). Shortly after, Delacroix painted a large watercolour entitled Cromwell before the Coffin of Charles I (Robaut no. 368) which was intended as an improvement on Delaroche's interpretation of the same subject and further illustrative of the energy Delacroix was focusing on this material.
Cromwell at Windsor Castle obviously appealed to the royalist Édouard, duc de Fitz-James (1776-1838), for whom Delacroix painted this work, or to whom he sold it soon after its completion, since it was noted as being in the Duc's possession in the 1831 Salon catalogue. As a direct descendent of an illegitimate son of King James II, the Duke of Berwick, and therefore of Stuart ancestory, Édouard, duc de Fitz-James would have attached special importance to this painting.
Indeed, he may well have identified himself with the royalist spectator, Wildrake, who silently peers over Cromwell's shoulder in the direction of the portrait of the ill-fated Stuart, Charles I.
The episode is from Chapter VIII in Scott's novel:
Wildrake [the cavalier] stood silent, inactive, and almost a terrified spectator, while Cromwell, assuming a firm sternness of eye and manner, as one who compels himself to look on what some strong internal feeling renders painful and disgustful to him, proceeded...to comment on the portrait of the late King...'that Antonio Vandyke - what a power he has! Steel may mutilate, warriors may waste and destroy - still the King stands uninjured by time'. (Woodstock, Everyman edn. 1969, p. 99).
French interest in British historical themes and literature, and in the works of Sir Walter Scott in particular, reached its apogée in this period. Indeed, the works of Sir Walter Scott represented a third of all novels published in France between 1820 and 1830 (B. Jobert, op. cit., p. 114). For the painters of the Romantic School, and their patrons, Scott's novels provided many rich and varied themes for depiction. Delacroix was well acquainted with Scott's novels, however, he may have been inspired to paint Cromwell at Windsor Castle having seen one of the two French stage adaptations of Woodstock performed in Paris in March 1828. A summary sketch for the pose of Cromwell with three alternative poses for Wildrake, some very close to the final stance, are on a sheet of studies in the Art Institute of Chicago.
Delacroix had first depicted a scene from Scott in 1823 with Rebecca and the Wounded Ivanhoe (fig. 1), however, after 1825 he painted a number of these small format paintings, which in their size, subject and composition, are a distinct and interesting group apart from the rest of Delacroix's oeuvre. Indeed, they are stylistically very close to the works of Richard Parkes Bonnington (1802-28), with whom Delacroix became friends in 1818. Together, Delacroix and Bonnington, explored a number of themes with literary references and shared a similar handling of colour and composition. Their paintings were highly sought after on the Anglo-French market, indeed, most were painted for private collections and were not destined for the Salon, which makes the present work very unusual. It is interesting to note, however, that Paul Delaroche (1797-1856) also submitted a painting on this theme to the 1831 Salon (no. 2720). Shortly after, Delacroix painted a large watercolour entitled Cromwell before the Coffin of Charles I (Robaut no. 368) which was intended as an improvement on Delaroche's interpretation of the same subject and further illustrative of the energy Delacroix was focusing on this material.
Cromwell at Windsor Castle obviously appealed to the royalist Édouard, duc de Fitz-James (1776-1838), for whom Delacroix painted this work, or to whom he sold it soon after its completion, since it was noted as being in the Duc's possession in the 1831 Salon catalogue. As a direct descendent of an illegitimate son of King James II, the Duke of Berwick, and therefore of Stuart ancestory, Édouard, duc de Fitz-James would have attached special importance to this painting.
Indeed, he may well have identified himself with the royalist spectator, Wildrake, who silently peers over Cromwell's shoulder in the direction of the portrait of the ill-fated Stuart, Charles I.