N. C. Wyeth 1882 - 1945

Joseph Harry Donahue, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania (gift from the artist)
By descent to the present owner

Rafael Sabatini, "The Romantic Prince," McCall's, vol. 56, no. 8, May 1929, illustrated p. 27
Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen Jr., N.C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals, New York, 1972, p. 265
Christine B. Podmaniczky, N.C. Wyeth: Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, 2008, vol. II, no. I. 1121, p. 522, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition. It is painted on two canvases mounted on board by the artist. Under UV: Two areas at the top edge fluoresce erratically, possibly reflecting a change made by the artist. There are a few very minor dots of inpainting in the background.
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The present painting depicts a dramatic scene from chapter fifteen of Rafael Sabatini’s novel The Romantic Prince, a chivalrous tale set in fifteenth century Burgundy. Excerpts from the novel appeared in McCall’s monthly magazine from February to June 1929, and this painting, one of a series of twelve commissioned from N.C. Wyeth, was published in the April 1929 issue.

In the present work, Wyeth uses a restrained but rich color palette of black, white, brown, and red to render a tense episode of treason. The scene is faintly illuminated by candle-lit chandeliers, and the brightest shades of red draw attention to the three main characters. The grimacing fool, Kuoni, looks upon an encounter he has secretly orchestrated to harm his dimwitted master, Sire Claude de Rhynsault, the Governor of Zealand. Kuoni convinces Rhynsault to attend a banquet and confront a grey haired knight named van Borselen, the leader of a seditious conspiracy to overthrow the aristocracy. With information from Kuoni of the Governor’s plans, van Borselen attempts to kill him with a dagger during the banquet. The agile Rhynsault, however, thwarts the deadly blow with a twist of his arm, much to van Borselen’s and Kuoni’s disbelief. Wyeth’s illustration of the pivotal moment in this foiled act of betrayal not only foreshadows subsequent events—van Borselen’s execution and Rhynsault’s discovery of Kuoni’s treasonable actions—but also allows for a dynamic and captivating composition.

In 1903, while still a student of the famous illustrator Howard Pyle, Wyeth sold his first work to The Saturday Evening Post. His reputation as a literary illustrator, though, was established in 1911 when his images commissioned for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island were published by Scribner’s. Part of Wyeth’s success stemmed from his deep engagement with texts: “The illustrator,” Wyeth wrote, “must first feel the power of the story in all its rhythm and swing. You have to register in your mind how it works…you must single out the color of the story” (N.C. Wyeth: Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 27). Believing that a simple recreation of the account already told by the author would be a disservice to the reader, Wyeth sought to include specific elements that further enriched the story. The demand for Wyeth’s work thrived until his death in 1945, by which time he had produced almost 4,000 illustrations for various books and magazines.