Artist: Victor John Robertson
Paolo & Francesca' painted in oil on canvas by Victor John Robertson (British, fl. 1892-1909) within a period 'Watts' type frame.
According to Dante, Francesca and Paolo were seduced by reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere and became lovers. Subsequently they were surprised and murdered by Giovanni before they were able to repent.
The tragic story of these adulterous lovers is recounted in Dante's Inferno, and was a popular subject with artists and sculptors from the late 18th Century onwards. In 1854 G.F. Watts showed his first version of this same theme at the British Institution, and this may have suggested the subject to Rossetti, whose watercolour of this same title, (1855) is held at the Tate. The popularity of the subject with artists such as Watts and Rosetti would in turn have influenced Robertson in his choice of material.
Born in 1870, Robertson studied at the Royal Academy Schools between 1892 and 1897. Always resident in London, (Battersea, Pimlico and Chelsea), he exhibited at the RA on ten occassions, between 1892 and 1909. This painting, No. 587 was his exhibit for 1903.
o.s:w.18.5 in x h.22 in
s.s:12 in x 16 in
Item Code: 1032
£ 5800
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