ford madox brown - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

identification is confirmed by an earlier sheet of eight studies dated 1845 (cat. no. 19)
which includes sketches of an elderly bearded man with a wreath of leaves, wearing the
same cloak, and in the same position. The final figure of the miserable-looking courtier
in the painting appears to have evolved from these two early studies.
Cat. no. 29 Chaucer at the Court of Edward III: Drapery Study, 1847
Black chalk; 158 x 128 mm
Insc. br.: Ford M Brown London/47
Lit.: Whitley, p. 41; Ford Madox Brown: The Unofficial Pre-Raphaelite, p. 65
Prov.: Charles Fairfax Murray
Presented by Subscribers, 1906 (1906P734)
o be an early drapery study for the elderly, bearded man sitting on
a hood and the ill-tempered courtier. Although he is
igure in
7). Brown's diary entry for 26 September 1847 may well
28): 'Finished the drawing of the Hood & a
rawing of the cloak for one of the men next to him, "Chamberlain."' 44
This drawing is likely t
the far left between the man wearing
depicted in a different costume in the final version the pose closely matches this f
the Cecil Higgins study (Fig. 7
relate to this drawing or one above (cat. no.
d
Cat. no. 30 Chaucer at the Court of Edward III: Female Nude: Study of a Muse holding
onto a Rail, 1847
Pencil; 290 x 147 mm
Insc. br.: Ford M Brown London/47
Lit.: Whitley, p. 35; Ford Madox Brown: The Unofficial Pre-Raphaelite, p. 65
Prov.: Charles Fairfax Murray
Presented by Subscribers, 1906 (1906P776)
Cat. no. 31 Chaucer at the Court of Edward III: Female Nude: Study of a Muse, 1847
Pencil; 267 x 146 mm
Insc.
br.: F. M B. London/47
Lit.: Whitley, p. 35; Ford Madox Brown: The Unofficial Pre-Raphaelite, p. 65
Prov.: Charles Fairfax Murray
Presented by Subscribers,
1906 (1906P775)
Whitley previously identified these two studies as figures for the central panel
of the
triptych. However, they are almost
certainly the two figures Brown drew on 14 October
1847 for the right wing. In his diary he records
that 'Miss Chamberlayne came. Worked
well
till 4 in spite of her talking propensities. Made outlines of the nude of the two figures
of “Muses of impassioned & satirical poetry.”
laurel wreaths on their heads. The right figure sits with her right elbow resting on the
45 These two female figures can be seen
more clearly in the pen and ink study for the right side of the triptych at the Ashmolean
(Fig. 116). Both figures sit in the top right spandrel wearing long, draped robes, and
44
Op. cit. at note 2, p. 7.
45
Ibid., p. 10. The author, most likely Mary Bennett, of anonymous undated notes on the BMAG drawings
in the curatorial files on Chaucer
at the Court of Edward III (The Art Gallery of New South Wales) comes
to the same conclusion.
216