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Edward the Confessor Stripping His Mother of Her Effects
Edward the Confessor Stripping His Mother of Her Effects

Edward the Confessor Stripping His Mother of Her Effects

Maker (British, 1741-1779)
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Dateca.1763
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions24 1/4 x 19 3/4 in. (61.6 x 50.2 cm.)
DescriptionThis is a small preparatory sketch for Mortimer's first large history painting, which was completed in 1763 and is now lost.
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Status
Not on view
Label TextThis small preparatory oil sketch documents the design of Mortimer’s first large history painting, completed in 1763 and now lost. For this important commission, Mortimer selected a historical subject that catered to the contemporary taste for moralizing and nationalistic themes: the conflict between the 11th-century English King Edward the Confessor and his mother, Emma of Normandy. After Emma placed Edward’s Danish
half-brother on the English throne, Edward went into exile. Upon the death of Edward’s brother, Emma conspired against Edward’s succession to the throne. To punish her, Edward seized his mother’s property and banished her. Mortimer portrays the new king standing confidently at the center of the composition, pushing aside his mother as she pleads for his mercy.
Bibliography
Object number78.8
Illustration to "The Commissioner," The Disagreeable Effects
Illustration to "The Commissioner," The Disagreeable Effects
Hablot Knight Browne (called PHIZ)
n.d.
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Tabard Inn, Outside
Tabard Inn, Outside
John Hamilton Mortimer
n.d.
Object number: 69.48
Sheet of Character Studies
Sheet of Character Studies
John Hamilton Mortimer
1771
Object number: 71.15
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King Lear
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Caliban
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Image Not Available for Distiller
Distiller
John Hamilton Mortimer
n.d.
Object number: 67.9
Image Not Available for William Harris
William Harris
John Hamilton Mortimer
n.d.
Object number: 67.44
Image Not Available for Biblical Subject
Biblical Subject
John Hamilton Mortimer
n.d.
Object number: 67.41
Four Figures in Combat
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John Hamilton Mortimer
n.d.
Object number: 72.39
Saint Alphége; Saint Edward the Confessor
Saint Alphége; Saint Edward the Confessor
Unknown, British
1910
Object number: 2000.5.705
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