Explore Collections
You are here:
CollectionsOnline
/
Lear and Cordelia
Browse
SM P212. ©Sir John Soane's Museum, London. Photo: Art UK
Henry Howard RA (1769 - 1847)
Lear and Cordelia
1819
Oil on canvas
Height: 63.5cm
Width: 66cm
Width: 66cm
Inscription: None
Museum number: P212
On display: Shakespeare Recess
All spaces are in No. 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields unless identified as in No. 12, Soane's first house.
For tours https://www.soane.org/your-visit
Curatorial note
Lear lamenting Cordelia from Shakespeare's King Lear, Act V, Scene 10: "Howl, howl, howl, howl! O you are men of Stones, / Had I your tongues, and eyes, I'd use them so, / That Heav'ns vault should crack, O she is gone forever!" Performances of King Lear were forbidden in 1788 in deference to the insanity of the reigning monarch, King George III. He died in January 1820, in the same year that Soane acquired this painting for his collection. The play must have had personal connotations for Soane, evoking the tragedy of his own life, an old man almost destroyed by the ungrateful acts of his children.
Provenance
Purchased by Soane in 1820, the year it was exhibited at the RA; correspondence with the artist indicates that it may have been commissioned by Soane as Howard refers to modifications made to 'your picture' and Soane pays him for it in April, prior to the RA exhibition opening date. Howard's son, Frank, in his 'Memoir' refers to it as 'a small picture from Lear ... for Sir John Soane'. The reference in the DNB to this work having been owned by the Earl of Egremont is incorrect.
Literature
Britton, Union, 1827, p.40 and 56
Soane, Description, 1830 pp. 21 and 41
1835, p. 56
Howard, F. (ed.) A course of lectures on painting ...by Henry Howard, Edited with a memoir of the author by Frank Howard', London 1848, p.lxxii
Thornton and Dorey, Miscellany, 1992, p.124
Darley, G., John Soane: An Accidental Romantic, 1999, p. xx
New Description, 2007, p. 74
Dictionary of National Biography, entry for Henry Howard
Soane, Description, 1830 pp. 21 and 41
1835, p. 56
Howard, F. (ed.) A course of lectures on painting ...by Henry Howard, Edited with a memoir of the author by Frank Howard', London 1848, p.lxxii
Thornton and Dorey, Miscellany, 1992, p.124
Darley, G., John Soane: An Accidental Romantic, 1999, p. xx
New Description, 2007, p. 74
Dictionary of National Biography, entry for Henry Howard
Exhibition history
Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1820
Soane collections online is being continually updated. If you wish to find out more or if you have any further information about this object please contact us: worksofart@soane.org.uk