The Tender Eleanora Sucking the Venom Out of the Wound which Edward I, her Royal Consort, Received with a Poisoned Dagger from an Assassin in Palestine
Maker
Angelica Kauffman
(Swiss, 1741 - 1807)
Additional Title(s)
- King Edward and Queen Eleanor
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Dateca. 1780
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions34 x 42 in. (86.4 x 106.7 cm.)
DescriptionThis painting represents Edward I, King of England and his wife Eleanor sucking venom out of a wound from a poisoned knife inflicted by an assasin in Palestine.
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Purchased with funds from the Art Collectors' Council and Ann and Dale Fowler
Label TextThis painting represents an episode in the lives of Edward I, King of England, and his wife Queen Eleanor. In 1270, Eleanor accompanied her husband on the Crusade to the Holy Land, where an assassin stabbed him with a poisoned knife. Eleanor saved his life by sucking the poison from his arm. Though a scene from medieval history, the costumes reflect the popular neoclassical style.Kauffman, one of the most important women artists of the 18th century, was a founding member of the Royal Academy, a fact that makes clear her eminent status in Britain’s male-dominated art world. Her fame rested on her portraits and history paintings – images of grand and heroic stories from the past, such as King Edward and Queen Eleanor.
Status
On viewObject number2001.11
John Hamilton Mortimer
ca.1763
Object number: 78.8
John Francis Rigaud
ca. 1786
Object number: 2008.14
