Picciola "Sweet are the uses of adversity" by Robert Braithwaite Martineau. 1853. Oil on Canvas. 25 x 32 inches (63.5 x 81.3 cm). Courtesy of Tate Britain. N01500. Presented by Miss Helen Martineau 1922. Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported). Click on image to enlarge it.
The quotation comes from Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Act II, Scene 1.
"Sweet are the uses of adversity;
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head."
Picciola was a novel published by Joseph-Xavier Boniface in 1836 that tells the story of Count Charney, a former soldier who has been put into prison for conspiring against Napoleon. One day Charney discovers a plant growing between two paving stones in his jail cell. This small flower that he calls Picciola grows and survives as a result of the care he provides and for him it becomes a symbol of life and love. Following the example of the flower Charney strives to enrich his mind and soul despite the prison walls that surround him. Martineau’s painting shows Charney reclining and nurturing Piccola by watering it. Martineau has changed the setting, however, from Charney’s prison cell to an outdoor scene. It is painted with precise Pre-Raphaelite detail, particularly the stonewalls and floor. — Dennis T. Lanigan
Links to Details and Related Material
- Soldier standing in background
- Pitcher and vegetation in foreground
- Bibliography of Criticism and Related Scholarship
Last modified 9 July 2018