"Princess Angelica" in Chapter VII" —Richard Doyle's second extra illustration for W. M. Thackeray's "The Rose and The Ring" (1898)

Princess Angelica

Richard Doyle

1898

Wood-engraving

10 cm high x 5.9 cm wide (4 by 2 ⅜ inches), vignetted

Second extra illustration for W. M. Thackeray's The Rose and The Ring (first published 1855): Chapter VII, "How Giglio and Angelica Had a Quarrel," p. 253. Descriptive headline: "Other Girls, The Author Guesses / Love To Flirt Besides Princesses" (pp. 252-253).

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Illustrated: Another Transformation — Princess Angelica in Oils

The Court Painter of His Majesty the King of Crim Tartary returned to that monarch’s dominions, carrying away a number of sketches which he had made in the Paflagonian capital (you know, of course, my dears, that the name of that capital is Blombodinga); but the most charming of all his pieces was a portrait of the Princess Angelica, which all the Crim Tartar nobles came to see. With this work the King was so delighted, that he decorated the Painter with his Order of the Pumpkin (sixth class) and the artist became Sir Tomaso Lorenzo, K.P., thenceforth.

King Valoroso also sent Sir Tomaso his Order of the Cucumber, besides a handsome order for money, for he painted the King, Queen, and principal nobility while at Blombodinga, and became all the fashion, to the perfect rage of all the artists in Paflagonia, where the King used to point to the portrait of Prince Bulbo, which Sir Tomaso had left behind him, and say ‘Which among you can paint a picture like that?"

It hung in the royal parlour over the royal sideboard, and Princess Angelica could always look at it as she sat making the tea. Each day it seemed to grow handsomer and handsomer, and the Princess grew so fond of looking at it, that she would often spill the tea over the cloth, at which her father and mother would wink and wag their heads, and say to each other, "Aha! we see how things are going." [Chapter VII, "How Giglio and Angelica Had a Quarrel," p. 252]

Commentary: Realism versus Pantomime Style

Doyle again shows his preference for a realistic style of portraiture. The realism is inconsistent with Thackeray's cartoon-like style, but the "straight" (uncaricatured) figures are those with whom the author wishes readers to identify.

Related Illustrations by W. M. Thackeray (1855)

Bibliography

Thackeray, W. M. The Christmas Books of M. A. Titmarsh. With illustrations by Richard Doyle and Thackeray. London: Smith. Elder, 1898.

Created 15 August 2022