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The Sherwin Brothers’ Copy of the Lost Mary Rose Wall Painting at Cowdray House

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2012

Bernard Nurse
Bernard Nurse*
Affiliation:
Bernard Nurse, FSA, 18 Ruskin Walk, Herne Hill, London SE24 9LZ, UK. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The publication by the Society between 1778 and 1788 of reduced black-and-white engravings of the celebrated wall paintings at Cowdray House, Sussex, was highly controversial at the time; now the engravings, one of which shows the sinking of the Mary Rose, serve as an important record of the sixteenth-century originals, lost to a fire of 1793. No contemporary colour copies of this particular wall painting were thought to have survived until the discovery in 2010 of a watercolour (since acquired by the British Library) depicting some of the central figures, including a remarkable image of Henry viii in the last months of his life. Further sketches of details by the same artists, the Sherwin brothers, found in the Mitford archives, help to throw new light on the original Tudor painting.

Résumé

La publication, par la Société, entre 1778 et 1788, de gravures réduites en noir et blanc des célèbres fresques murales de Cowdray House, dans le Sussex, fut très controversée à cette époque. À présent, ces gravures, dont l’une montre le naufrage de la Mary Rose, servent de trace importante des originaux du XVIe siècle, disparus dans un incendie de 1793. On pensait qu’aucun exemplaire en couleur contemporain de cette fresque particulière n’avait survécu jusqu’à ce que, en 2010, on découvre une aquarelle (acquise par la British Library) représentant les personnages centraux, notamment une image remarquable d’Henry VIII pendant les derniers mois de sa vie. D’autres esquisses de détails réalisées par les mõmes artistes, les frères Sherwin, trouvées dans les archives de Mitford, permettent de jeter une nouvelle lumière sur ce tableau Tudor d’origine.

Zusammenfassung

Die Veröffentlichung verkleinerter Schwarz-Weiß-Stiche der berühmten Wandgemälde in Cowdray House, Sussex, durch die Society in den Jahren zwischen 1778 und 1788 war zu jener Zeit äußerst umstritten; heute dienen diese Stiche, von denen einer den Schiffbruch der Mary Rose zeigt, als eine wichtige Quelle für die Originale aus dem 16. Jahrhundert, die 1793 bei einem Brand zerstört wurden. Es wurde bis vor kurzem angenommen, dass keine zeitgenössischen Farbkopien dieses Wandgemäldes erhalten blieben, bis 2010 ein Aquarell (das von der British Library erworben wurde) aufgefunden wurde, das einige der zentralen Figuren zeigt, u.a. eine bemerkenswerte Darstellung Heinrichs VIII. in den letzten Monaten seines Lebens. Weitere Detailskizzen derselben Künstler, bei denen es sich um die Brüder Sherwin handelt, die in den Mitford-Archiven entdeckt wurden, werfen neues Licht auf das Originalgemälde aus der Tudor-Zeit.

Type
Research papers
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 92 , September 2012 , pp. 371 - 384
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2012

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