Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Titania and Bottom by Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A. 1848-51. Oil on canvas. 82.0 × 133.0 cm. Collection: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Felton Bequest, 1932; accession Number 4658-3. [Click on image to enlarge it.]
Fairy painting was in vogue at this time, and Landseer, with his special skill for depicting animals, brought a light touch to this famous scene. In the Magazine of Art, F. G. Stephens described this as "one of Landseer’s charming pictures," and considered it as "in some respects among the most beautiful and modern of Shakespearean illustrations, fanciful and graceful exceedingly." He went on to comment on all the different elements of the composition, from the self-satisfied Bottom himself ("The stupidity of Bottom is unexceptionable") to "the robust elves, Moth and Mustard Seed, the fluffy-furred hares as white as snow with rubies for eyes — nay, the fantastically fair Ariel." These , said Stephens, "are all we could desire; exquisite is the painting of Titania’s semi-diaphanous robe starred with gold; in her face, however, there is no passion Oberon need have troubled himself about" (178).
Stephens then explained that Landseer painted the work for Sir Isambard Brunel’s Shakespeare Gallery; and that it was sold to Earl Brownlow for the then grand sum of £2,940 in 1860, passing from him to the well-known art-dealer Mr. Agnew, and then to Mr. Quilter, about whose collection he is now commenting. Stephens was also pleased to report that, unlike some of Landseer's other works, it was still in fine condition. Now far from home, it can still be admired online!
Links to related material
- Black-and-white reproduction in the Magazine of Art, 1897-98, p. 178
- Detail: Titania and Bottom
- Detail: Fairy folk in right-hand corner
Formatting and text by Jacqueline Banerjee and George P. Landow [You may use the Magazine of Art image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Internet Archive and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.
Bibliography
Stephens, F. G. “The Collection of Mr. C. Cuthbert Quilter, M.P. The Modern English Masters —II.” The Magazine of Art 20 (1896-97): 177-83. Internet Archive version of a copy of in the University of Toronto Library. Web. 10 November 2014.
Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Titania and Bottom. NGV Australia. We. 14 April 2022.
Last modified 14 April 2022