Niobe

Niobe
Niobe
Niobe
The Trustees of the British Museum
title=Credit line
Artist
William Sharp (1749-1824) after Wilson
Title
Niobe
Date
c. 1787 (undated)
Medium
Pen and black ink, over graphite, on brown oiled paper, squared for transfer
Dimensions
Metric: 125 x 370 mm (irregular)
Imperial: 4 7/8 x 14 9/16 in. (irregular)
Accession Number
1853,1210.474
Wilson Online Reference
NWD400
Description
Niobe and eleven of her children are shown at the height of the attack on them by Apollo and Artemis. Two of her sons attempt to flee on horeback behind at the left.
Provenance
Purchased from: A E Evans & Sons, 1 Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, 1853
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Subject
The subject derives from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book 6, lines 144-312. Niobe, daughter of Tantalus and Queen of Thebes, is punished for having dared to suggest, because she had seven sons and seven daughters, that she was superior to the goddess Leto (or Latona). Apollo and Artemis, children of Leto, killed all of Niobe's offspring in revenge and she herself wept until she was turned into stone.
Related Drawings
D355 Recumbent Male Nude, National Museum Wales, Cardiff (NMW A 1885)
Related Prints
E52 William Sharp and Samuel Smith after Wilson, Niobe , 1788, National Museum Wales, Cardiff
E54 William Sharp and Samuel Smith after Wilson, Niobe , 1792, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, USA (B1977.14.14569) and other impressions
E58 William Sharp and Samuel Smith Niobe, 1803, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (1577/3) and other impressions
E79/1 Samuel Lacey after Wilson, Niobe, c.1836, The British Museum
E86 William James Linton after Wilson, Destruction of the Children of Niobe, The British Museum
Critical commentary
William Sharp was responsible for the figures in the prints E52, E54 and E58. This is his preliminary drawing for the group prior to transfer to the plate.
Condition/Conservation
Badly stained in several places. Tear upper left.
Updated by Compiler
2017-09-01 00:00:00