The Story of Ruth. Thomas Matthews Rooke, RWS (1842-1942). Oil on canvas, triptych. 1876-77. Each painting is 26 x 15 1/2 inches (66.0 x 39.4 cm). In this rather curious arrangement, shared here from Tate Britain's website, Naomi, Ruth and the infant Obed are shown first, then Boaz and Ruth when Ruth is gleaning, and then Ruth with Naomi.
The story of Ruth and Boaz comes from the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament. It was a popular subject for artists at this time: see here for a summary of it, in a commentary on David Wynfield's treatment of the subject. Rooke's triptych was shown at the Royal Academy in 1877, nos. 574, 575, and 576, and garnered enough acclaim to be chosen for purchase by the Chantrey Bequest: it was a great honour for a young artist like Rooke to receive such a sign of official recognition. As Frances Spalding has explained: "Rooke's Story of Ruth followed Burne-Jones's frequent use of separate scenes housed within a single frame to expand the narrative of the tale. More restrained and less imaginative than Burne-Jones's paintings, it is nevertheless executed with delicate precision and a sense of the emotional tenor of the story" (20).
Individual titles, left to right (in more logical order): Naomi and Ruth; Ruth and Boaz; and Naomi, Ruth and Obed. Collection of the Tate Britain. Images of individual canvases, also in from Tate Britain, but made available via Art UK under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (CC BY-NC-ND). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
As shown in Henry Blackburn's Academy Notes for 1877 the triptych was, in fact, originally arranged in the more logical fashion shown directly above:
Drawing showing the original organization of The Story of Ruth. Source: Henry Blackburn's Academy Notes, 1877, page 50.
The left-hand panel showed Ruth guiding the elderly Naomi on their trip back from Moab to Bethlehem, walking in a rocky landscape with low hills in the background. The middle panel showed Ruth kneeling in a field gleaning, watched over by her future husband Boaz. Further male and female labourers are seen working in the field in the background. The right-hand panel shows Ruth looking down at Naomi, who cuddles her grandson Obed in her lap. The background shows labourers harvesting grapes.
Contemporary Reviews of the Painting
Despite their having been chosen by the Chantrey Bequest, the paintings received mixed reviews from the critics. The reviewer for The Architect certainly did not like it: "The Story of Ruth (574, 575, 576), by Mr. T. M. Rooke, has an affected archaism which is particularly distasteful to us" (346). The conservative critic of The Art Journal positively disliked how Rooke handled the draperies of the figures:
The Story of Ruth (574-576), told by T.M. Rooke in three panels. The inspiration of this last-named artist has, probably, been found in contemplating the works of Burne Jones; but Mr. Rooke ought to remember that that painter makes the study of drapery a sine qua non, while the crumplings we have here not only rob the picture of breadth, but force upon the eye a sense of their impossibility, unless we are to suppose the dresses have been steeped in some peculiar liquid and then suddenly baked. In other respects the three compositions are far from being without positive merit. [186]
F.G. Stephens in The Athenaeum also had some reservations about this picture:
Mr. T.M. Rooke, who was distinguished last year, now sends a triptych (574-6), illustrating The Story of Ruth, a highly artistic and carefully studied series of pictures produced in a very timid mode, not without curious affectations in the crinkled draperies throughout; having laboured, but fine, carnations, treated in a monotonous way; flesh beautifully, delicately drawn; but the whole so thin in its impasto, or the want of it, as to resemble stained glass. Good, clear colouring, and a very rare refinement of feeling predominate the pictures. [677]
Not all the reviews of Rooke's triptych were ambivalent, however, with some critics finding it praiseworthy. Henry Blackburn in his Academy Notes felt the triptych contained "refined, classically conceived pictures … excellent in colour and composition" (50). William Michael Rossetti in The Spectator found it the only true example of Pre-Raphaelitism in that year's Academy:
We have omitted to mention in the proper place Nos. 574-576, a triptych, by T.M. Rooke, representing three scenes in the story of Ruth. These three small pictures are full of feeling and good painting, and should be noticed by every visitor to the Academy. They are, as far as we remember, the only true pre-Raphaelite paintings in this year's Academy, in the sense of being an attempt to depict a historical scene as it might actually have occurred. The figures of Ruth and Boaz are full of grace and dignity, and the little bits of landscape behind, with the gleaners, &c., natural and unaffected. Mr. Rooke, we believe, is a young artist, and we can congratulate him upon his success. [793]
One of the most favourable reviews on the pictures came from The Examiner who praised both their colouration and composition: "We could not wish for a more careful arrangement of the chosen tints or a more skilful disposition of the figures in space" (qtd. in Spalding 20).
Bibliography
Blackburn, Henry. Academy Notes. London: Chatto & Windus (May, 1877), nos. 574-76, 50.
Naomi, Ruth and Obed. Art UK. Web. 12 January 2026.
"Paintings at the Royal Academy." The Architect XVII (2 June 1877): 346-47.
Rossetti, William Michael. "Art. The Royal Academy." The Spectator L (June 23, 1877): 792-93.
"The Royal Academy Exhibition." The Art Journal New Series XVI (1877): 185-86.
Ruth and Boaz. Art UK. Web. 12 January 2026.
Ruth and Naomi. Art UK. Web. 12 January 2026.
Spalding, Frances. Magnificent Dreams. Burne-Jones and the Late Victorians. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1978.
Stephens, Frederic George. "Fine Arts. The Royal Academy." The Athenaeum No. 2587 (26 May 1877): 675-78.
The Story of Ruth as shown on Tate Britain (follow the arrow on the right), but not available on Art UK. Web. 12 January 2026.
Temple, A. G. Sacred Art. London: Cassell and Company Limited, 1898. 109-11.
Wood, Christopher. The Pre-Raphaelites. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1981. 134.
Created 12 January 2026
Last modified 13 January 2026