ford madox brown - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

Cat. no. 42 Chaucer at the Court of Edward III: Two Hand Studies, 1847
Black chalk; 170 x 238 mm
Insc. br.: Ford M Brown London/47 (brown ink over
pencil inscription: 'Chaucer at
the ...')
Lit.: Whitley, p. 33; Ford Madox Brown: The Unofficial Pre-Raphaelite, p. 65
Prov.: Charles Fairfax Murray
Presented by Subscribers, 1906 (1906P749)
These
two hand studies are for figures in the central panel and the unfinished wings. The
top study is for Shakespeare who was depicted in one of the wings. The second hand
study is for the courtier sitting in the lower right hand corner of the final painting,
animatedly discussing Chaucer’s work with the Gower, who sits beside him in a medieval
hood. 59 The unusual hand position in this preparatory study gives an idea of the
enthusiasm Brown wanted the figure to portray.
Cat. no. 43 Chaucer at the Court of Edward III: Study of Head of Milton copied
from
Sculpture, 1848
Black chalk; 163 x 176 mm
Insc. br.: Ford M Brown London/48
Lit.: Whitley, p. 32; Ford Madox
Brown: The Unofficial Pre-Raphaelite, p. 65
Prov.: Charles Fairfax Murray
Presented
by Subscribers, 1906 (1906P719)
This study is for the blind figure of Milton in the abandoned left compartment. It is likely
to have been copied from Michael Rysbrack's bust of 1737 on the monument to the poet
in Westminster Abbey. 60 In old age Milton went blind and Brown depicts the poet at this
stage of his life holding a stick to feel his way forward.
Cat.
no. 44 Chaucer at the Court of Edward III: Nude Studies for the Squire and the
Courtier talking to Gower, 1848
Pencil; 160 x 269 mm
Insc. br.: Ford M Brown London 48
Lit.: Whitley, p. 36; Ford Madox Brown: The Unofficial Pre-Raphaelite, p. 65
Prov.: Charles Fairfax Murray
Presented by Subscribers, 1906 (1906P782)
These studies were made after Brown restarted work on Chaucer following the
completion of Wycliffe reading his Translation of the Bible. The full length figure is for
the squire who is courting the lady on the far left of the composition. The figure on the
right is for the 'dilettante' courtier talking to Gower. 61 BMAG also holds a later drapery
study for the squire's legs (cat. no. 53).
59
Mary Bennett identifies the courtier as Gower (The Pre-Raphaelites, exh. cat., Tate, London, 1984, p.
54). However, Brown's identification of the figures contradicts this. He noted in his solo exhibition
catalogue that of the 'two dillettante courtiers learnedly criticising the one in the hood is meant for the poet
Gower' (Op. cit. at note 20, p. 4).
60
Unpublished notes on the drawings at the BMAG by Hilary Parsons.
61
See op. cit. at note 20, p. 4.
222