Lot Essay
The subject is taken from the tenth tale of the tenth day of Boccaccio's Decameron, a story rendered into Latin by Petrarch and adapted by Chaucer for the 'Clerk's Tale' in the Canterbury Tales. The Marquis of Saluzzo is persuaded by his subjects to marry, and chooses as his wife a humble peasant girl, Griselda. He then proceeds to test her loyalty by subjecting her to a series of cruel trials, all of which she suffers with exemplary fortitude. For the Middle Ages, Griselda was the embodiment of Patience.
The story of Griselda appealed to several Victorian artists, notably Charles West Cope (1811-1890), who illustrated it in a mural in the House of Lords (1849) and a painting exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1852. However, Cowper's painting belongs to a later phase of interest in Italian literary sources. Its closest parallels are the 1899 illustrations to the Decameron by his contemporary Byam Shaw (1872-1919); those from 1894 to a comparable group of tales, Le piacevole notte by Gianfrancesco Straparola (died 1557) by the somewhat older E.R. Hughes (1851-1914); and two later paintings by J.W. Waterhouse (1849-1917) again inspired by Boccaccio (1916-17; both Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight).
Exhibited at the Royal Watercolour Society in 1906 and reproduced in the Studio the following year, the present drawing is a charming example of Cowper's early style, characterised by the strong influence of Italian Renaissance portraiture and an emphasis on the decorative effect of rich fabrics. A pencil study was sold in these Rooms on 6 June 2002, lot 94 (fig. 1).
The story of Griselda appealed to several Victorian artists, notably Charles West Cope (1811-1890), who illustrated it in a mural in the House of Lords (1849) and a painting exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1852. However, Cowper's painting belongs to a later phase of interest in Italian literary sources. Its closest parallels are the 1899 illustrations to the Decameron by his contemporary Byam Shaw (1872-1919); those from 1894 to a comparable group of tales, Le piacevole notte by Gianfrancesco Straparola (died 1557) by the somewhat older E.R. Hughes (1851-1914); and two later paintings by J.W. Waterhouse (1849-1917) again inspired by Boccaccio (1916-17; both Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight).
Exhibited at the Royal Watercolour Society in 1906 and reproduced in the Studio the following year, the present drawing is a charming example of Cowper's early style, characterised by the strong influence of Italian Renaissance portraiture and an emphasis on the decorative effect of rich fabrics. A pencil study was sold in these Rooms on 6 June 2002, lot 94 (fig. 1).