The Children of Niobe

The Children of Niobe
The Children of Niobe
The Children of Niobe
The Trustees of the British Museum
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
The Children of Niobe
Date
c.1755-60 (undated)
Medium
Black chalk and stump, heightened with white, on grey paper
Dimensions
Metric: 263 x 396 mm
Imperial: 10 3/8 x 15 5/8 in
Accession Number
1847,0723.107
Wilson Online Reference
D325
Description
The scene takes place on an upland slope, with a bridge beyond on the left. At the right a youth is running in dismay to the dead body of a girl, lying foreshortened by the hollow trunk of a tree. Towards the left a young man is prostrating himself and a girl kneels with arms outstretched in supplication. Another figure approaches along the bridge at the extreme left.
Exhibited
London, Cardiff and New Haven, 1982-83 (85)
Provenance
Purchased from Walter Benjamin Tiffin, July 1847
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Verso inscriptions
Verso invisible - laid down
Related Paintings
P90C The Destruction of the Children of Niobe, The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth / Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru
Critical commentary
Apparently a study for an early version of Wilson's Niobe
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
834/71(23)
Bibliography
Binyon 13; WGC, p. 161, pl. 21b; Solkin 1982, pp.199-200
Link to WG Constable Archive Record
Condition/Conservation
Staining and rubbing upper left