By the Waters of Babylon, 1852.Oil on canvas; 28 1/4 x 20 1/4 inches (71.8 x 51.4 cm). Collection of Tate Britain, reference no. NO3677. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
This was the first work Calderon exhibited at the Royal Academy and its theme was taken from Psalms CXXXVII. When it was shown in 1853, no. 1260, it was accompanied by these lines in the catalogue" "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down. Yea, we wept when we remembered Zion." Rather than taken directly from the biblical text Calderon's painting might possibly be based on the hymn "Where Babel's Rivers Winding Stray" by Anne Steele published in 1760. The first verse of this hymn goes:
Where Babel's rivers winding stray
A silent, cool retreat we chose;
There lost in thoughtful sadness lay,
And pond'ring o'er our mighty woes.
The Babylonian Captivity of the Israelites began in 597 B.C.E. when the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II captured Judah and killed King Jehoiakim, exiling his family, his court, and thousands of workers who were forced to leave their homeland. The deported Jews lived in Babylon until 538 B.C.E. when they were freed by the Persian leader Cyrus the Great and given permission to return to their homeland and to rebuild Jerusalem and the Second Temple.
The painting features an elderly man and two young women, presumably his daughters, sitting by a river remembering their Jewish homeland from which they had been forcibly deported. The woman in yellow lies across her father's lap in obvious grief and is comforted by her sister. The father looks on in sad contemplation. A woman with her baby is situated to the right and slightly behind this group. A high bank with trees on its summit and a clear bright blue sky make up the background. The bright colouration of the composition was influenced by the first phase of Pre-Raphaelitism. Despite the fine qualities of this picture it was largely ignored by the critics, likely because Calderon was a young unknown artist at the time.
Created 12 July 2023