William Hamilton R.A. 1751-1801

Rev. Walter Bromley Davenport, D. L., M. P., Capesthorne Hall, Macclesfield;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, July 24, 1953, lot 40.

Pall Mall, London, Shakespeare Gallery (now the British Institution) circa 1791 - 1805.

This picture dates to the year following Hamilton's election to the Royal Academy, when he already had a long and prolific career as a painter specializing in illustrations of literary subjects.  The artist had developed a predilection for Shakespearian themes while working on a large scale project, comprising twenty three pictures, for John Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery. 

The present composition is a faithful illustration of the final scene of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, circa 1610 (V, 3).  In the play, the jealous king Leontes repudiates his wife Hermione because he mistakenly  believes that she is unfaithful to him.  Sixteen years later, under the guise of a speaking statue, Hermione reappears before her husband and other witnesses.  Upon seeing his beloved wife, Leontes cries out:
"Her natural posture!
Chide me, dear stone, that I may say indeed
Thou art Hermione; or rather, thou art she
In thy not chiding, for she was as tender
As infancy and grace.  But yet Paulina,
Hermione was not so much wrinkled, nothing
So aged as this seems."
Shortly after this speech, Hermione is discovered, and reunited with her husband, allowing her daughter to marry her lover.  Hamilton has chosen for his composition the moment when Leontes and his daughter become aware that the statue is, in fact, Hermione. 

This picture, although it was exhibited at Shakespeare Gallery, was not a part of the aforementioned project.; it was conceived on a broader scope and larger scale, prompting Hamilton to produce at least three pictures, which could be preliminary versions (one sold, London, Phillips, December 16, 1997; another, sold, London, Sotheby's, March 22, 1995, lot 48; a third, sold Copenhagen, Bruun Rasmussen, November 19, 1996, lot 188).  All these pictures are smaller in size and scope than the present lot.  Also, this painting was engraved for A. J. Boydell in 1791.

Reverend Walter Bromley Davenport was a cleric and one of 19th century England's greatest collectors (see Provenance below).  He began collecting pictures when he travelled to Italy in 1822, after which his taste only broadened and intensified.  In particular, in 1845, he purchased a large number of works from the sale of the estate of Cardinal Fesch, who was Napoleon's uncle and a very active collector.