Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo
Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo | |
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Tate Gallery, London |
Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo, fully titled Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo, her murder'd Husband,
Analysis
Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo illustrates a scene from the first tale on Day 4 of The Decameron, a medieval collection of short stories (novelle) by Italian author and poet, Giovanni Boccaccio.[3]
Seated at an ornate wooden table, wearing a pearl
Guiscardo was a servant and
Hogarth claimed to have long been interested in the story of Sigismunda, which had appeared in England in several versions by the mid-18th century. It had become popular after being translated in John Dryden's 1699 volume of Fables, Ancient and Modern, and adapted for the English stage by James Thomson in 1745.
Commissioning
The painting was one of Hogarth's last works, commissioned in 1758 by Sir Richard Grosvenor. James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont had previously commissioned a painting from Hogarth, allowing Hogarth to select the subject and price.
For Lord Charlemont, Hogarth chose to paint the satirical
Hogarth chose a more serious topic for Grosvenor's painting. He is said to have painted Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo with the aim of proving that he could equal works of the "Old Italian Masters", and intending the painting to be one of his masterpieces.
Reception
Hogarth exhibited the painting at the Society of Artists in Spring Gardens in 1761.[2] Although press reports – perhaps placed by Hogarth and his supporters – were enthusiastic, Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo was attacked by critics who marked Hogarth's attempt to emulate the drama depicted in older Italian paintings as foolhardy and ridiculous.[7] Many critics were repulsed by the shocking contrast between the melancholy beauty of Sigismunda and the grotesquely bloody organ that she delicately touched.[2] It was said that Hogarth placed an attendant next to the painting to note the remarks made by the viewers; changes to the painting suggest that he may have responded to these criticisms by altering his work, although it is impossible to ascertain whether many of the changes were made before or after the painting was exhibited.
One of the fiercest critics of Hogarth's work was the critic and writer
and saw in it:None of the somber grief, no dignity of suppressed anguish, no involuntary tear, no settled meditation on the fate she meant to meet, no amourous warmth turned holy by despair
John Wilkes dismissed it as "not human".[4] More predictably, in his Epistle to William Hogarth, Charles Churchill sympathised with Sigismunda as the "helpless victim of a dauber's hand".[10]
After ten days of the exhibition, Hogarth replaced the painting with another of his canvases, Chairing the Member, the fourth and last piece in his Humours of an Election series.[7]
Hogarth was unable to sell the painting, but he considered selling engravings based on it. A subscription ticket for the engraving of Sigismunda depicting Time Smoking a Picture was made, and some subscriptions were sold before being recalled, but by March 1761 Hogarth had abandoned the project, having failed to find an engraver to produce the plates.
Alterations
A number of alterations are visible to the naked eye as pentimenti. A piece of paper draped over the edge of the table is clearly visible in outline, despite having been painted over with detailing of the table itself. Sigismunda's index finger which was bent towards and perhaps touching the heart has been straightened, but the outline of the tip is still visible on the surface of the heart. A looped cord in the top right-hand corner is poorly concealed under the topmost layer of paint. It is also known that, to attempt to appease critics, Hogarth repainted the fingers of Sigismunda so that the blood that was previously there would no longer be visible.[4]
See also
Notes
References
- "The First Exhibition of the Royal Academy". The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. 36 (1065). 26 June 1841.
- Dobson, Austin (2000). William Hogarth. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1-4021-8472-7.
- Gouk, Penelope; Helen Hills (2005). Representing Emotions: New Connections in the Histories of Art, Music, and Medicine. selection by ISBN 0-7546-3058-7.
- Hallett, Mark; Christine Riding (2007). Hogarth. Tate Publishing.
- Hargraves, Matthew (2006). Candidates for Fame: The Society of Artists of Great Britain. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-11004-9.
- Hogarth, William (1833). Anecdotes of William Hogarth: Written by Himself. J.B. Nichols and son.
- Kinsley, James; Helen Kinsley (1995). John Dryden: The Critical Heritage. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-13430-7.
- Paulson, Ronald (1989). Hogarth's Graphic Works. London: The Print Room. ISBN 0-9514808-0-4.
- Ruggiero, Guido (2007). Machiavelli in Love: Sex, Self, and Society in the Italian Renaissance. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8516-7.
- Timbs, John (1860). Anecdote Biography: William Pitt, Earl of Chatham and Edmund Burke. R. Bentley.
Further reading
- Hinnant, Charles H. (1973). "Dryden and Hogarth's Sigismunda". Eighteenth-Century Studies. 6 (4): 462–474. JSTOR 3031580.