John Roddam Spencer Stanhope

The Goupil Gallery, London;
Sotheby's, 27 November 1984, lot 36

London, Royal Academy, 1864, no. 33
Manchester, Royal Institution, Art Treasures Exhibition, 1878

Art Journal, 1864, p. 160

STRUCTURE The canvas has been relined. There are faint areas of craquelure in all four quadrants. These appear stable and are only visible upon close inspection. Otherwise the work appears in good overall condition. ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT UV light reveals an opaque varnish which makes the surface difficult to read conclusively. There appear to be retouching along the upper half of the right edge and another small area along the upper half of the left edge. There are flecked areas of retouching to the lady's left arm, head and top of her shoulder. There are flecked retouchings in her dress, including an area of more extensive retouching to the lower portion. There is also some retouching along the lower edge below the jug and a few further signs of scattered retouchings across the canvas. FRAME Held in a gilt plaster frame. Please telephone the department on 0207 293 5718 if you have any questions about the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Described by the Art Journal on the occasion of its first appearance before the public, at the Royal Academy in 1864, as 'a work mediaeval by its severity, and naturalistic through its vigour', Spencer Stanhope's Rispah gives fascinating clues as to the conflicting tendencies of British art in the early 1860s. Stanhope's early training had been under G.F. Watts, while later Watts had put Stanhope in touch with D.G. Rossetti, and in 1857 he was one of the artists who worked with Rossetti on the murals of subjects from Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur for the Debating Chamber of the Oxford University Union building. Stanhope became close friends with Edward Burne-Jones, who was the artist more than any other who influenced his style. Thus were blended with a powerful and heroic quality, and a sense of the value of important and uplifting subjects, learnt from Watts, a love of careful observation and interest in the specific and momentary, which was a legacy of Pre-Raphaelitism in its final phase.

Rispah (more usually spelt 'Rizpah') was the concubine of Saul, and the mother of two children by him. In the Old Testament Book of Samuel 2, chapter 21, it was described how, after Saul's death, King David sought to expiate Saul's persecution of the Gibeonites, in the first place offering them money. This they refused, but instead demanded seven of Saul's sons, including the two by Rizpah, that they should be hanged. Rizpah went with her sons and after their death 'took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of the harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air by day, nor the beasts of the field by night'. King David was told how Rizpah had protected the bodies of her dead sons from desecration. CSN