Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

Figure 6. Paul Delaroche, The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, ca. 1834. Canvas, 45. 7 X 53.3
e/11. Corporation of London, Guildhall Art Gallery.
IV, were reproduced by lithography. Artists were also able to keep their works
in the public eye by means of high-quality engravings and Delaroche had an
arrangement with the print publisher Adolphe Goupil to produce and publish
engravings, after his paintings (41). For large paintings, including Lady Jane
Grey, The Children of Edward IV, and Joan of Arc, he painted a reduced-scale
copy from which the engraving could be made (42) . In the case of Lady Jane
Grey, it is possible that the painting now in the collection of the Guildhall
Art Gallery, Corporation of London, is the reduced-scale copy (Fig. 6) (43).
The engraving, by Mercurij, one of several engravers who engraved the painter's
works fo r Goupil, was begun in 1834, but was only completed in 1857,
the painter himself having died the previous year (44).
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank John Leighton, curator of nineteenth-century paintings
at the National Gallery, fo r generously sharing the information he has gained
during his research with the authors; Rachel Billinge, Leverhulme Research Fellow
at the National Gallery, for infrared reflectography carried out on the painting; Raymond
White fo r examination of the paint medium by gas chromatography mass
spectrometry; Sara Hattrick and the Photographic Department for photography.
Notes
1. Boime, A. 1971. The Academy and French Painting in the Nineteenth Century. London:
Phaidon, 9-21.
2. Boime, A. 1980. Thomas Couture and the Eclectic Vision. New Haven and London:
Yale University Press, 3-35.
3. Delaborde, H., and J. Godde. 1858. Oeuvre de Paul Delaroche, reproduit en photographie
par Bingham, accompagne d'une notice sur la vie et les ouvrages de Paul Delaroche
par Henri Delaborde, et du catalogue raisonne de l'oeuvre par Jules GoddlE. Paris: Goupil.
References to the essay are cited as Delaborde, 1858; those to the catalogue as
Godde, 1858.
4. Ziff, N. D. 1977. Paul Delaroche: a study in nineteenth-century French history painting.
New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc.
5. Boime, 1980. Op. cit., 40-41, 52-60, 70-75.
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