The Chapel of the Charterhouse by Sir Hubert von Herkomer, R. A. (1849-1914). Photograph by Boussod, Valadon, & Cie of original oil painting. Source: Magazine of Art (1890), facing p. 228.
Commentary by M. H. Spielmann (1890)
As a painter of dramatic scenes Mr. Herkomer has, since his first appearance in the Royal Academy, seldom failed to
touch the heart of the spectator. His themes have usually been sad in character; but, while always treating them with a sympathy that is intensely human, he invariably seeks to display, together with the pathos of sorrow, the dignity of suffering and the nobility of reverse. In all the pictures we readily call to mind that have appealed to us from the Academy walls, this has been the dominant note: in "The Last Muster" (which appeared in the first number of
this volume), " Missing," after the loss of the Atalanta, "Rest," "The Arrest of the Poacher" — in these as well as in "The Chapel of the Charterhouse " which is
before us, Mr. Herkomer has always struck the chord
of pity. This distinctive quality of the painter's mind
was doubtless borne in upun him through his own
experiences; for it is through suffering that he has
achieved his present position, and over reverse that
he has triumphed. To the technical qualities of
"The Charterhouse" I need not refer; I did that
in reviewing the last Royal Academy Exhibition in
these pages; but I would call attention to the manner
in which the artist has shown us the noble side of
failure in life, in this quiet haven for gentlemen
whom the cruel tide of receding Fortune has left
high and dry on the rocks, in the last hours of
declining day. M. H. S. [p. 228]
Bibliography
Spielmann]., M. H."'The Chapel of the Charterhouse.' Painted by Hubert H. Herkomer, A.R.A" Magazine of Art (1890). London: Cassell and Company. Pp. 228 and facing.
Last modified 30 April 2007