Chaucer, with his Friend and Patron, John of Gaunt, and the Two Sisters, Catherine and Philippa, their Wives, 1842. Oil on canvas, 26 x 35½ inches (66 x 90 cm). Private Collection. Click on image to enlarge it.
This painting was the first work that Scott showed at the Royal Academy and in the following year 1843 he exhibited it at the Royal Scottish Academy, no. 212. Geoffrey Chaucer is shown reading his poem “The Flower and the Leaf” to his patron John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Also present are Catherine Swynford, John’s mistress who later became his third wife in 1396, and her sister Philippa, who was married to Chaucer. Catherine and Philippa were the daughters of Sir Payne Roet. Philippa was a lady of the chamber to Queen Philippa, the wife of Edward III. This painting preceded Ford Madox Brown’s more famous, but similar, painting Geoffrey Chaucer Reading ‘The Legend of Custance’ to Edward III that was begun in 1847 and completed in 1851. It is unlikely that Brown was aware of Scott’s painting, however, because he was living in Paris when Scott’s painting was exhibited in 1842.
When Scott’s painting was shown at the Royal Academy in 1842 the critic for The Art-Union commented: “Judging from all that can be seen of this work it merits a lower site than that in which it has been placed. The composition seems well-balanced, the colour harmonious, and the figures well-charactered.” — Art- Union, 4 (July 1842: 162.
Last modified 6 February 2022