A Knight and Page (from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s “Götz von Berlichingen” )
Date:
ca. 1826
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
18 1/4 x 15 inches (46.4 x 38.1 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.52
Gallery Label:
From September 1825 to January 1826, Richard Parkes Bonington shared the Paris studio of his friend, the French romantic painter Eugène Delacroix. During that time, and under Delacroix’s influence, Bonington—highly regarded for his landscapes—expanded his repertoire to include historical genre subjects. In this scene, based loosely on Goethe’s tragedy, the mercenary knight Götz von Berlichingen is attended by a servant and stands in profile at the top of a stair. His right arm is obscured, as the historical Götz wore an iron prosthesis after losing his right hand and lower arm to cannon fire. The artist based the features of Götz on Andrea del Verrocchio’s famous equestrian statue of the condottiere (mercenary leader) Bartolomeo Colleoni, which Bonington had studied in Venice in summer 1826. He probably painted this picture the following autumn and gave it to Delacroix, who then bequeathed it to Baron Charles Rivet, Bonington’s patron and traveling companion in Italy. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016