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The Artistic Practice, Protracted Publication and Posthumous Completion of Charles Alfred Stothard's Monumental Effigies of Great Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2012

Phillip Lindley
Phillip Lindley*
Affiliation:
Phillip Lindley, FSA, History of Art and Film Department, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This paper examines the complicated circumstances surrounding the very slow production of The Monumental Effigies of Great Britain, the great masterpiece of Charles Alfred Stothard, FSA, and the various reasons why it took twenty-one years to complete. The methods and techniques Stothard adopted to produce his celebrated etchings and the evolution of his artistic style are first analysed, as is the role played by Thomas Kerrich, FSA, in the project. Next, this paper investigates the severe problems facing Stothard's young widow, Anna Eliza, and his brother-in-law, Alfred Kempe, FSA, as they tried to bring the project to a conclusion, and the reasons why it was necessary to employ four different etchers to produce the remaining plates from Stothard's original drawings. Anna Eliza's recording of Charles Stothard's achievements, her scrupulous preservation of his drawings and her poignant publication of his life story are shown to have consolidated and enhanced his posthumous reputation as perhaps the finest antiquarian artist ever to depict medieval monumental sculpture.

Résumé

Ce document examine les circonstances compliquées entourant la très lente production de The Monumental Effigies of Great Britain, le chef-d’œuvre de Charles Alfred Stothard, FSA, et les différentes raisons des vingt-et-un ans de retard dans son achèvement. Les méthodes et techniques que Charles Alfred Stothard a adoptées pour produire ses célèbres gravures et l’évolution de son style artistique sont analysées, tout comme le rôle joué par Thomas Kerrich, FSA, dans ce projet. Ensuite, ce document examine les graves problèmes auxquels furent confrontés la jeune veuve de Charles Alfred Stothard, Anna Eliza, et son beau-frère, Alfred Kempe, FSA, lorsqu'ils ont essayé de conclure le projet, ainsi que les raisons pour lesquelles il a été nécessaire d'employer quatre graveurs différents pour produire les plaques restantes des dessins originaux de Charles Alfred Stothard. L'archivage par Anna Eliza des exploits de Charles Alfred Stothard, sa conservation scrupuleuse de ses dessins et sa publication poignante de l'histoire de sa vie sont présentés comme ayant consolidé et renforcé sa réputation posthume de, peut-être, le meilleur artiste antiquaire qui ait dépeint la sculpture monumentale médiévale.

Zusammenfassung

Diese Abhandlung untersucht die verwickelten Umstände um die äußerst langsame Fertigstellung des großartigen Meisterwerks von Charles Alfred Stothard, FSA, The Monumental Effigies of Great Britain, und die verschiedenen Gründe für die lange Verzögerung von einundzwanzig Jahren. Eingangs werden die von Stothard bei der Herstellung seiner prachtvollen Kupferstiche angewandten Methoden und Techniken und die Entwicklung seines Kunststils, sowie auch die Rolle eingehend untersucht, die Thomas Kerrich, FSA, bei diesem Projekt gespielt hat. Als nächstes werden die Probleme behandelt, denen sich Stothards junge Witwe, Anna Eliza, und sein Schwager, Alfred Kempe, FSA, gegenübersahen, als sie versuchten, das Projekt zum Abschluss zu bringen, und es wird erklärt, weshalb es notwendig war, vier verschiedene Kupferstecher zur Herstellung der restlichen vier Platten von Stothards Originalzeichnungen einzusetzen. Ebenfalls wird aufgezeigt, dass Anna Elizas Aufzeichnungen zu den Leistungen von Charles Stothard, ihre gewissenhafte Erhaltung seiner Zeichnungen und ihre rührende Schilderung seiner Lebensgeschichte seinen posthumen Ruhm als einer der bedeutendsten, wenn nicht der bedeutendste, Darsteller mittelalterlicher Monumentalskulpturen gefestigt und aufgewertet hat.

Type
Research papers
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 92 , September 2012 , pp. 385 - 426
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2012

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