JOSEPH WRIGHT OF DERBY'S THE LADY IN MILTON'S COMUS
by
DAVID BRENT HORALEK
A THESIS
Presented to the Department of Art History
and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Master of Arts
September 2008
"Joseph Wright of Derby's The Lady in Milton's Comus," a thesis prepared by David
Brent Horalek in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in
the Department of Art History. This thesis has been approved and accepted by:
Andr~w Schulz, Ch ir of the Examining Committee
11
Committee in Charge:
Accepted by:
Andrew Schulz, Chair
Sherwin Simmons
Elizabeth Bahls
Dean of the Graduate School
111
An Abstract of the Thesis of
David Brent Horalek
in the Department of Art History
for the degree of
to be taken
Master of Arts
September 2008
Title: JOSEPH WRIGHT OF DERBY'S THE LADY IN MILTON'S COMUS
Andrew Schulz
In 1785, Joseph Wright of Derby held a private exhibition in which he showed
The Lady in Milton's Comus along with three other paintings of virtuous women. This
painting not only embodies the spirit and style of Wright's oeuvre but also reflects the
variety of influences upon his art and demonstrates his interest in literary subjects. It
provides a window into both the career of Wright and the sentimental mindset of his late
eighteenth century audience. This thesis will situate Wright's painting within the context
of the many literary and artistic ideas in circulation during this period. The influence of
the gothic, the sublime, moral philosophy, and sensibility on Wright's painting will be
evaluated in addition to exploring the work as a literary subject.
CURRICULUM VITAE
NA~v'lE OF AUTHOR: David Brent Horalek
PLACE OF BIRTH: Huntsville Alabama
DATE OF BIRTH: August 4,1978
GRADUATE AND l1NDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:
University of Oregon, Eugene
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California
DEGREES AWARDED:
Master of Arts, Art History, 2008, University of Oregon
Bachelor of Arts, Art History, 2004, California State Polytechnic University
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST:
British Art of the Eighteenth Century
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of Art History, University of Oregon,
Eugene,2005-2008
GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS:
Gloria Tovar Lee Award, University of Oregon, 2007
Amy and Ross Kari Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2005
Julian McPhee Scholar Award, California State Polytechnic University, 2004
Summa cum Laude, California State Polytechnic University, 2004
IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. LEADING UP TO MR. WRIGHT'S EXHIBITION OF 1785.... .... ...... ........ ..... 1
II. THE LADY IN MILTON'S COMUS.................................................................... 18
III. ART THEORIES AND LITERATURE............................................................ 44
IV. THE LADY'S LEGACy.................................................................................... 76
BIBLIOGRAPHy...... 84
v
VI
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1. The Lady in Milton's Comus.............................................................. ............ 1
2. The Indian Widow......................................................................................... 2
3. Penelope Unravelling Her Web, by Lamp-Light........................................... 3
4. The Corinthian Maid.............................................................. ....................... 4
5. Matlock High Tor 22
6. Matlock Tor, Moonlight 24
7. Dovedale by Moonlight 25
8. Virgil's Tomb 26
9. An Iron Forge Viewedfrom Without............................................................. 27
10. The Earthstopper on the Banks of the Derwent 28
11. The Council in Heaven,. The Council in Hell............................................... 37
12. Euphrosyne Leads the Poet 38
13. The Brothers Attack Comus........................................................................... 40
14. The Poet by the Pool..................................................................................... 41
15. The Alchymist 51
16. Miravan Breaking Open the Tomb ofHis Ancestors 52
17. The Old Man and Death................................................................................ 54
18. An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump 61
19. Maria, from Sterne 67
20. The Captive, from Sterne. 68
21. Maria, from Sterne, a Companion to the Picture ofEdwin.......................... 72
22. Edwin, from Dr. Beattie's Minstrel............................................................... 73
23. William and Margaret.............................................................................. ..... 76
1CHAPTER I
LEADING UP TO MR. WRIGHT'S EXHIBITION OF 1785
Wright wrote a letter to his friend William Haley in April 1784 in which he
mentioned the near completion of a companion to his Indian Widow:
.. .1 am ingaged with Margaret and William for which I have done, I hope it will
prove a chilling picture, I have arrived at an unpleasant colouring, which will be
well contrasted by the Corinthian Maid & Penelope, between which I intend it to
hang in my Exhibition[.] I have also nearly finished a Companion to the Indian
Widow, the burst of light in which picture, suggested to Mrs. Beridge those lines
from Comus: 'Was I deceived? or did a sable Cloud! Tum forth her Silver lining
on the Night &c.' I never painted a picture so universally liked... !
In 1785, after several
years of being at odds with the
Royal Academy, Joseph Wright
of Derby (1734-1797) showed
The Lady in Milton's Comus
(Figure 1) along with twenty-four
other works in a solo exhibition at
Mr. Robins's Rooms (late
Langford's), No.9, under the
Figure 1. The Lady in Milton's Comus, 1785, Egerton, 128.
J Benedict Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 2 vols. (New Yark: Pantheon Books,
1968),148. The letter comes from the Inglefield MSS.
2Great Piazza, Covent Garden in London, England. Among these works were several
pendants, and two of these sets were of virtuous women. One set included figures placed
in sublime outdoor settings: The Lady in Milton's Comus (1785, Walker Art Gallery
Liverpool) and The Widow ofan Indian Chiefwatching the Arms ofher deceased
Husband (Figure 2, 1785, Derby Museum and Art Gallery). A second set consisted of
Penelope Unravelling her Web, by Lamp-Light (Figure 3, 1785, J. Paul Getty Museum)
and The Corinthian Maid (Figure 4, 1782-1785, National Gallery of Art, Washington
D.C.). Not only were the subjects in these two paintings classical, they were also
connected by interior architectural settings that displayed tools of industry. As a group,
These four works are related
virtuous actions of the women
circumstances, and the women in
these four paintings celebrate the
to one another in a variety of ways.
depicted within them.
All represent scenes of unfortunate
them are connected by the idea of
Figure 2. The Indian Widow, 1785, Egerton, 129.
loss or separation. Moreover, each of the subjects is taken from a literary source, and all
of the women exhibit a virtuous or heroic stance in confronting their plights. The idea for
The Lady in Milton's Comus came from John Milton's mask of 1634 in which a young
woman becomes lost in a forest, is abducted by the lecherous creature Comus, and must
preserve her chastity in order to survive her ordeal. The Indian Widow came from a
3passage in James Adair's The History ofthe American Indians (1775) that describes the
watch that a widow would sit after the death of her husband.
The other two paintings however come from much older sources dating to
Classical times. The idea for Penelope Unravelling her Web, by Lamp-Light originally
came from Homer's Odyssey. Wright's
source was Alexander Pope's 1725-1726
translation of the story. In the story,
Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, was left
at home with their son Telemachus.
While Ulysses was gone for ten years,
Penelope had to fend off a string of
Figure 3. Penelope Unravelling Her Web, by Lamp- suitors. To do this she told them that
Light, 1785, Egerton 131.
she could not marry them until she had finished weaving a shroud for her dead father-in-
law Laertes. During the day she wove, and during the night she unraveled her work. She
continued this method until Ulysses returned and killed the suitors. The story of the
Corinthian Maid has its roots in both Pliny and Athenagoras. It was eventually collected
in Diderot's Encyclopedie and other literary works. The source that most influenced
Wright came from his friend William Hayley's poem An Essay on Painting, published in
1778.2
The source for The Corinthian Maid comes from the classical story of Dibutades'
creation of portraiture inspired by her love for her companion. Knowing that he would
2 Judy Egerton, Wright ofDerby (London: Tate Gallery Publications, 1990), 135.
4. The Corinthian Maid, c.1782·5, Egerton, 133.
4
have to leave, she traced his outline, cast by lamplight, on the wall behind him. Her potter
father later added clay and baked it, leaving her with an image of her beloved that could
comfort her in his absence.
The most dramatic of these four paintings is The Lady in Milton's Comus. While
the women depicted in the other three
works are seated in a quiet and collected
manner, the woman featured in The
Lady in Milton's Comus is the opposite
of calm and collected. She has just
burst out of the forest into a small
moonlit clearing. She raises her hands
toward the sky in a gesture indicating a
panicked frenzy. This painting, which, as mentioned above, looks to British author John
Milton (1608-1674) for inspiration, will be closely examined in this thesis. The major
focus of this thesis will be an examination of both Wright's painting and the literary and
social influences on it during the late eighteenth-century. Several questions will be
considered. How does this work embody Wright's oeuvre in spirit and style? What role
did literary influence play upon Wright's career? Why did he pair this painting with The
Widow ofan Indian Chiefwatching the Arms ofher deceased Husband, and for that
matter, what does the larger grouping of all four of the virtuous women tell us? How can
we learn more about the culture of the time by attempting to view these works through
the eyes of Wright's audience and by examining their subsequent reception?
5While Wright's exhibition was not a major success in his career and did not add
significantly to his fame, it can be seen as the apex of his artistic achievement and a
demonstration of his wide-ranging interests. During his career, Wright painted portraits,
conversation pieces, landscapes, narratives, moonlights and candlelights. He chose
subjects ranging from scientific enquiry and enlightenment values to natural phenomena
and sublime forces in nature. Wright was fascinated by the world around him and was an
avid reader. Wright's painting of The Lady in Milton's Comus serves as shining example
of these interests and can be seen as an exemplar of his oeuvre. Before exploring these
topics in more depth, we will first tum to a brief look at his life and the events that led up
to his exhibition and the creation of this painting. The remainder of this chapter will
focus on Wright's career and his 1785 exhibition. In the second chapter, a closer look
will be taken at the painting itself and its relation to Milton. The third chapter will discuss
the literary influences and social institutions of Wright's time that informed his work.
The fourth chapter will tie these themes together and explore the legacy of Wright's
painting as well as taking a brief look at the subsequent popularity of Comus in the
nineteenth-century.
Joseph Wright of Derby3 was born at No. 28 Irongate in Derby, England on
September 3, 1734 to Hannah Brookes and attorney and town clerk of Derby, John
3 He is referred to as Wright of Derby for two reasons. The addition of Wright to his title distinguished him
from at least two other Joseph Wrights practicing art at the time and calls attention to the fact that he later
settled in his native town as opposed to the more cosmopolitan London. This latter point would ultimately
tarnish his reputation as a serious metropolitan artist and categorize him as a provincial painter. See
Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter of Light, 1.
6"Equity" Wright.4 While his oldest brother John continued the family law practice, and
his elder brother Richard became a physician, Joseph exhibited an artistic capability at a
young age.s
In 1751, at the age of seventeen, Joseph Wright was sent to London to study
portraiture under Thomas Hudson (1701-1779) for a period of two years. 6 Hudson was a
successful portrait painter during the first half of the eighteenth century, but has been
characterized by Ellis Waterhouse as the last of the "conscienceless artists" and is best
remembered for being Joshua Reynolds's (1723-1792) instructor from 1740-1743.7
However, during his lifetime, he was well respected, and Stephen Daniels notes that the
apprenticeship under Hudson was among the costliest in London in those days. 8 Further,
his style of painting was not atypical for that time period, and is more a reflection of the
restrictive tastes of the aristocracy. 9
4 Stephen Daniels, Joseph Wright (London: Tate Gallery Publishing Ltd., 1999),9.
5 Daniels, Joseph Wright, 9.
6 Nicolson notes that Hudson was likely selected because he had also been Joshua Reynolds's teacher. See
Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 2.
7 Waterhouse criticizes him for executing very little of the actual work of painting himself, instead
delegating these chores to members of his studio and taking more pride in the drapery and embroidery than
in the sitters. See Ellis Waterhouse, Painting in Britain: 1530-1790 (New York: Penguin Books, 1978),
200-201. While his pupils and the new generation of artists elevated portraiture and imbued their sitters
with a more humanizing vibrancy, warmth, and feeling, Hudson has sometimes been criticized for
maintaining well-tried formulas. See Andrew Wilton, Five Centuries ofBritish Painting: From Holbein to
Hodgkin (New York: Thames and Hudson, 2001), 74.
8 Daniels, Joseph Wright, 9.
9 During the mid-century, many artists had become frustrated with the daily grind of painting wealthy
sitters and were eager for a change. Hogarth was an early proponent of a more imaginative direction for
art, and Gainsborough and Reynolds were among the pioneers in providing portraiture with greater depth
and meaning. See Andrew Graham-Dixon, A History ofBritish Art (Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1999), 104.
7After his training under Hudson, Wright returned to Derby in 1753, where he set
about painting portraits of locals, family, and friends. The only known patron from this
period is the Curzon family of Kedleston. Not happy with the progress of his career he
returned to Hudson's studio for another fifteen months of training from 1756-1757.
During this second stay with Hudson, Wright met and befriended his lifelong friend John
Hamilton Mortimer (1740-1779). Mortimer later served as both vice-president (1770)
and president (1774) of the Society of Artists and encouraged an emphasis on Anglo-
Saxon based historical painting as opposed to that of classical Greece and Rome. Like
Wright, Mortimer is remembered as a pioneer of romantic literary subjects. He is best
known for his engravings of Shakespearean figures, Banditti, and monstrous imaginative
figures. Additionally, Mortimer, along with Fuseli, was among the first to use a subject
from Spenser to create a romantic history painting. 10 He was eventually admitted into the
Royal Academy just before his early death in 1779. During his lifetime he was always a
good and encouraging friend to Wright.
After Wright's further training under Hudson, he again returned to Derby where
he began his career as a portrait painter. By 1760, Wright was sure enough of his skill
that he ventured on a visit of nearby Midland towns including Retford, Lincoln, Newark,
Boston, Thome, and Doncaster, painting several portraits along the way.l1 During the
1760's, Wright joined a group called the Howdalian Society, an organization designed to
10 Waterhouse, Painting in Britain, 290.
II Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 2.
8bring together intelligent men interested in the fine arts and music. 12 Mortimer served as
the president of the club, and members including the Welsh landscape painter Thomas
Jones, Joseph Wilton, John Ireland, and Henry Fuseli met regularly at Munday's
Coffeehouse on Maiden Lane to exchange ideas. 13 It is also during this period that
Wright began experimenting with night pieces and genre scenes with figures examining
objects such as scientific equipment, classical sculpture, and iron forges. 14 These pieces
demonstrate his interest in man's thoughtfulness in relation to th~ developments of the
Industrial Revolution as well as in enlightened sensibility. Rather than simply painting
portraits on his canvases, Wright captured more than just the surface level of life. He
painted humanity's deep-rooted interest in discovery as well as their wide range of
emotions. These first pieces began to hold up a mirror to the public sphere, incorporating
Shaftesburian ideas which had recently been reworked by George Turnbull in his Treatise
on Ancient Painting. They began his progression towards more serious works exploring
literature and history, but it is his dramatic handling of light for which he is best known
today.
In 1765 he exhibited for the first time with the Society of Artists, a group with
which he would participate every year until 1776. At that point in time, the Society of
12 Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 2.
13 Peter Tomory, The Life and Art ofHenry Fuseli (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972),23-24. Tomory
notes Mortimer's Caricature Painting that dates roughly to 1765-1770 as evidence for the inclusion of
Fuseli. In the Memoirs ofThomas Jones, Walpole Society, XXXII, 1946-48, it is stated that the group was
named after Captain Howdall of the Artillery, who was a supporter of the arts and regularly met with the
gentlemen before being assigned to Minorca. However, Martin Myrone, citing Sunderland, states that these
men met at Feather's Tavern. See Martin Myrone, Bodybuilding: Reforming Masculinities in British Art
1750-1810 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005), 128.
14 Daniels, Joseph Wright, 9.
9Artists was the only real venue for artists interested in gaining public attention. However,
this changed in 1768 when the Royal Academy was founded, and a large number of
artists switched over to the new venue, leaving behind only the most steadfast. Wright
was among this latter group, along with his friends George Stubbs (1724-1806), John
Mortimer and George Romney (1734-1802), all of whom remained with the Society of
Artists until the mid-1770's before themselves showing with the Royal Academy.IS
While Wright was able to make a name for himself outside of Derby by exhibiting
at such venues as the Society of Artists and the Royal Academy, his fame was greatly
aided by the reproduction of many of his works in mezzotint by top printmakers of the
day. These were circulated internationally, and, as they were relatively inexpensive, he
was able to expand his audience. Additionally, since Wright chose to have reproduced
mainly those works that he exhibited, he actively selected the works that would gain him
fame and be discussed by the art world. During the period before photography, large
volumes of prints were collected, and, as Egerton notes, it is quite telling that a German
scholar, Michael Huber, writing in 1794 on British artists, clearly ranks Wright among
the leading history painters of the day, based solely on his collection of prints. 16 Not
surprisingly, the first two works that Wright had reproduced were his groundbreaking and
popular A Philosopher giving that Lecture on the Orrery (1766) and An Experiment on a
Bird in the Air Pump (1768).
15 Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 2 vols. (New York: Pantheon Books, 1968), 3.
16 Egerton, Wright of Derby, 25.
10
These moralizing works demonstrate that Wright had an early interest in artwork
that was more than just aesthetically pleasing. When viewers looked upon these images,
they were meant to be informed about their own position in the world. This in tum
allowed them to contemplate and question themselves morally and ethically, and by
doing so, hopefully improve themselves and society. David Solkin notes that these
paintings are directly related to the cultural currents of Britain in that they represent, in
elaborate and complicated compositions, the public sphere of the eighteenth-century. 17
Additionally, it should be noted, that these paintings were expressly produced for this
same audience. In these works, rather than providing viewers with a heroic protagonist,
Wright presents them with polite society and their actions. This thread will be taken up
in greater detail in the following chapters.
While London was the major center of artistic activity, other provincial centers,
encouraged by the successful founding of the Royal Academy, began to develop. One of
these was in Liverpool, where Wlight's friend Peter Perez Burdett served as the first
president of the Liverpool Society of Artists. This organization lasted only briefly, as did
the Liverpool art scene during that period. Wright had friends and colleagues in
Liverpool, and when Burdett encouraged Wright to relocate there in 1768, he did SO.18 In
Liverpool Wright was highly successful as a portrait painter and in 1770 he and John
17 David Salkin, Painting for Money (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993,227-228.
18 Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 3.
11
Mortimer were jointly commissioned to decorate a room at Radbume Hall for Colonel
Pole, his most important commission up to that point. 19
In July of 1773 Wright manied Anne Swift (1749-1790), and in October the two
set sail for the continent and Rome where they would spend the next couple of years.
There he likely encountered Fuseli along with several other British painters at the English
Coffee House in the Piazza di Spagna. In this environment of renewed interest in
classical antiquity, a reformist approach to art developed that celebrated the heroic and
virtuous subjects from Greco-Roman history and mythology. The artists reworked the
classical, using new form and new content to create high-minded and serious subjects.
One of the influential forces of this artistic shift was Johann Joachim Winckelmann
(1717-1768), who moved to Rome in 1755, and espoused his enthusiasm for ancient art
in three volumes that celebrated the simple and noble beauty of Greek classical art. 20 In
combination with the changes taking place back in London, namely the creation of
venues at which artists could show their own work and the new impetus to take subjects
from British history and literature, the men active in Rome at the time encouraged each
other to move forward. 21 While in Rome, Wright studied the great Renaissance masters
19 Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 4.
20 Winckelmann became one of the most knowledgeable art historians of the eighteenth-century on ancient
art. His book, History ofAncient Art (1764) was quite influential in the rise of Neoclassicism. He
championed Greek art and encouraged artists to imitate the forms while making it their own. Anton
Raphael Mengs (1728-1779), Winckelmann's lover, was instrumental in spreading Winckelmann's ideas
across Europe. Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) as well as Robert Adam (1728-1792) were also
influential in spreading and popularizing the Neoclassical spirit. In England, Josiah Wedgwood reproduced
neoclassical imagery on porcelain at his Etruria factory. See Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers (New
York: Random House, 1983),587.
21 Nancy L. Pressly, The Fuseli Circle in Rome: Early Romantic Art ofthe 1770s (New Haven: Yale Center
for British Art, 1979), vi-vii.
12
and the antique while visiting the Capitoline museum, Trastevere, the Vatican, Palazzo
Barberini, and the French Academy. During his stay Wright was greatly impressed by
the antique as well as the developing Neoclassical style of his fellow artists. He filled
several sketchbooks with drawings of antique subjects, and it is these sketches that he
would later call upon for several of his more classically styled paintings during the
1780's.22 His 1785 painting The Lady in Milton's Comus demonstrates a hybrid of
classicism, sensibility, and the sublime. 23
The first indication that Wright's style was moving in a new direction can be seen
in his painting of The Captive (1774) from Sterne's A Sentimental ]ourney,z4 This
painting betrays the immediate influence that Italy had on Wright. Wright's figure is
reserved and frozen, and line locks the composition in place. Here too, the architecture
and background maintain a careful and thoughtful dialogue with the figure in the
foreground. However, classicism was not the only influence Wright felt during this
period. Wright would go on to paint other subjects from Sterne later in his career. From
this it is possible to see where Wright's interest in the sentimental and in sensibility began
to develop.
22 One such example can be seen in The Corinthian Maid. The figure of the sleeping youth is taken from
his 1774 sketch of Endymion, an antique relief that he had seen in the Capitoline Museum. See Nicolson,
Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 65.
23 Nicolson also notes, as most viewers of Wright's work might, that Wright, "like all his contemporaries
Wright instinctively matched style to subject-matter; selecting classical forms for classical subjects as in
the Origin ofPainting [The Corinthian Maid]; Gothic forms for Gothic poems, as in William and Margaret;
classicism tempered by melancholy for ballads, Milton and the contemporary literature of sensibility, as in
Edwin, Maria and Comus..." See Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 65.
24 From a letter written on August 10, 1774 by Father Thorpe to Lord Arundell, it is known that Wright was
working on a painting of The Captive. See Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 7-8.
13
In the fall of 1775, Wright decided to establish himself in Bath, but once there he
met with little commercial success. He had arrived shortly after Gainsborough's
departure and found it hard to rival the more flattering portraiture of his predecessor. Nor
did Wright possess the social graces necessary to cultivate a clientele among the genteel
society there. As Daniels notes, Bath was a place where "interest in Enlightenment
values of enquiry and industriousness were at best marginal.,,25 Wright returned to Derby
for the summer of 1776, at which time his first son was born and his friendship with
William Haley began. He then returned to Bath for one more year during which time he
suffered from rheumatism.26
Wright returned to Derby for good on June 13, 1777. From this point on he
broadened his oeuvre by painting landscapes, scenes from literature and mythology, and
portraits of influential people from the Midlands. The move proved to be successful for
Wright personally as well as financially. He was surrounded by family and friends and
had enough patronage to live comfortably.
While life was good for Wright in his hometown, London remained the epicenter
of the British art world, and he regularly traveled to London to show with both the
Society of Artists and the Royal Academy to solidify both his regional identity and
international reputations.27 From 1778 to 1782 Wright exhibited at the Royal Academy
annually. As a result he qualified for Associate Membership. In 1781 when a vote was
25 Daniels, Joseph Wright, 10.
26 Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 13.
27 Daniels, Joseph Wright,lO.
14
cast, Wright received fourteen votes towards being elected as a full member while his
closest competitor received only two?S For an unknown reason, Wright did not
acknowledge receiving notification of his election from the secretary until two months
later. After that point, an altercation developed between Wright and the Academy, and in
February of 1783, he lost membership to a minor artist named Edmund Garvey. After
enameller George Moser's death in 1783, Wright was given full membership in 1784.
However, he declined the position and had his name struck out of the list of Associates?9
While it is known that Wright had some sort of misunderstanding with the Royal
Academy, the exact nature of the problem is open for debate. What is known is that due
to this misunderstanding, Wright was prompted to hold an exhibition of his own in 1785
in Robins's Rooms. 3D
During his life, Wright made friends with many other men also interested in
exchanging ideas and concerns of enlightenment culture. Early in his career he
established a rapport with the Derby clockmaker and geologist John Whitehurst. He also
befriended the mapmaker and engraver Peter Perez Burdett during this time. Wright
himself was never a member of the fraternal Lunar Society comprised of philosophers
28 Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 14.
29 Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 14.
30 Nicolson mentions that Wright had complained on more than one occasion of the Royal Academy
hanging his paintings in rather poor locations. In a letter to William Haley dated to April of 1784, Wright
writes: "I felt much satisfaction in reading your letter to Mr. Long respecting my rejecting or accepting
being an Academician. If the balance hung in equilibrium before, when I knew your sentiments up flew the
Beam, & I refuse the honor, if it is one. I felt no inclination to become a member of a Society from whom I
had repeatedly received the most humiliating treatment, the most flagrant abuse, & from which being an
Academician would not have protected me, from 'Envy, Hatred, and Malice Etc... "'. See Nicolson, Joseph
Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 14.
15
and scientists, but many of his friends were, including Erasmus Darwin and Josiah
Wedgwood. Stephen Daniels suggests that Wright may have been a member of the
Freemasons, as were his friends Wedgwood, Burdett, Darwin, and Whitehurst?] The
poet William Haley provided encouragement and advice throughout the second half of
Wright's career. All of these men continually invigorated Wright intellectually and
helped to stimulate his own investigations into the world. His circle of friends also
frequently provided advice concerning Wright's paintings, and of these friends it was
Haley who had the biggest impact.
We will now return to the exhibition of 1785. Wright's 1785 exhibition has
neither been described as an overwhelming success nor a failure. Apparently another
artist, George Carter, also had a one-man show occurring slightly earlier in the season.
Nicolson suggests that Carter had heard about Wright's intentions for a solo-exhibition
and was able to beat him to it, knocking some of the steam out of Wright's later show.
What little is known of the 1785 exhibition comes from the following two contemporary
sources. An account from the Public Advertiser dating to June 1, 1785 describes the two
shows as follows: "Carter, as he justly deserves, and Wright of Derby as he very justly
does not deserve, except for his caprice and spleen (for Wright is a very fine painter) both
are losers on their experiments of separate exhibitions. ,,32 The second source comes from
the diary of Sylas Neville and dates to May 4, 1785:
Saw Wright of Derby's Exhibition, who on account of some dispute has this year
31 Daniels, Joseph Wright, 10.
32 Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter of Light, 16.
16
separated himself from the R. Academy. Here we have some pictures of great
merit in the peculiar stile of his pencil - moon lights, storms of thunder &
lightning, different effects of fire. The Exhibition of the R. Academy has but few
pictures of great merit this year - indeed I did not stay long, the crowd of
company & heat of the rooms made it into a Calcutta business.33
It appears that while Wright was a well respected painter, and those that were present for
his exhibition had a positive response to it, not many were drawn to it. One must keep in
mind that the exhibitions that took place at the Royal Academy as well as the Society of
Artists were a relatively new concept in London, and it was an even rarer circumstance
for an artist to hold and independent exhibition.
However unsuccessful his exhibition was, his painting of The Lady in Milton's
Comus was anything but that. Along with fourteen other paintings of the twenty-five
shown in Wright's exhibition, The Lady in Milton's Comus was already sold. Josiah
Wedgwood purchased this work along with Penelope Unravelling her Web, by Lamp-
Light and The Corinthian Maid?4 It is strange, however, that he did not also purchase the
Indian Widow since it was meant to be the companion piece to Comus. Nicolson states
that there is no record indicating that Josiah Wedgwood also sought to obtain the Indian
Widow. He notes the similarity between the figures in these two paintings and the figures
done in relief on Wedgwood plaques and finds it odd that Wedgwood was not interested
in the companion, as the two paintings, much like the juxtaposition between the paintings
of Penelope and the Corinthian Maid, possessed similar light and shade, similar gestures,
33 Basil Cozens-Hardy, ed., The Diary ofSylas Neville 1767-1788, (London: Oxford Universtiy Press,
1950),326-7.
34 Wedgwood paid 80 gns for Comus, and 100 gns for the pair of Penelope and The Corinthian Maid. He
also purchased a self-portrait for 16 gns. Wright's largest and costliest work, the View ofGibraltar, also
appeared in this show. It was pre-sold to John Milnes of Wakefield for a price of £420 Pounds.
17
similar subject matter (in this case, the virtuous woman put into an awful predicament by
no fault of her own), and a similar artificial placement into a lonely setting.35
Before proceeding to a discussion of literary and cultural influences that informed
Wright's work, I will now tum to a close examination of The Lady in Milton's Comus and
its position within Wright's body of work.
35 Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 149.
18
CHAPTER II
THE LADY IN MILTON'S COMUS
In the first half of this chapter a close look at The Lady in Milton's Comus will be
taken. The work will first be examined by itself and then as a companion piece. It will
also be seen in relation to a few of Wright's other paintings as far as moonlight and
landscape are concerned. The discussion will then tum to the painting's relation to
Milton. The following chapter on literary and cultural influences will be clearer after
first taking some time to better know the painting
Wright's painting illustrates for the viewer what previously had existed only in
words. In the lower-left comer of the composition, a woman wearing a full-length white
chemise-type dress, resembling something of a cross between a classical-style and a
contemporary dress, belted high on the waist with a sash, is depicted emerging from a
dark forest into a relatively open clearing. Her shawl has fallen down around her lower
body and wraps over her right leg before resting upon the ground. She is leaning
forward, and her knees are both bent, indicating that she has been struggling in the
darkness to make her way through the woods. Overall, her body forms an s-curve, and
this pose, in combination with the energetic folds of her dress, suggests the urgency of
her situation. Her arms are opened and extend forward in a gesture that pleads for divine
aid. Her right arm is angled down toward the earth, while her left is angled towards the
19
heavens. Her head is tilted upwards and her gaze is aimed at the clouds parting in the
distance and upon the moonlight emanating from them.
A grove of trees and branches rise up behind and above her and cast the
surrounding areas into darkness. The largest tree directly behind her raises its branches
in a pose similar to that of her arms, and thus connects the image of the woman with the
background that she is painted into. In front of her, the clearing is slightly illuminated by
moonlight that is breaking through a very cloudy night sky. Just a small, rounded
silvery-white fragment of the moon glows as it rests on the top of dark cloud. At the
right edge of the clearing a short embankment meets a stream. The stream, in turn flows
into the distance and joins a larger body of water, most likely the ocean.36
As we know from Wright's letter, The Lady in Milton's Comus was made as a
companion for The Widow ofan Indian Chief watching the Arms ofher deceased
Husband,37 and the relationship to that painting must be considered. The Lady in Milton's
Comus was meant to be hung to the left of the Indian Widow. When the two pieces are
viewed together, one can see the continuity between the two. The seascape and cloudy
sky that are visible in the background of The Lady in Milton's Comus continue through
space and resume in the left distance of The Indian Widow creating a bridge between the
two paintings. While the sea appears calm in The Lady in Milton's Comus, it is quite
turbulent in The Indian Widow, giving the viewer the feel that they are observing two
36 The "Atlantick stream" is mentioned in line 97. See Roy Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, (Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998), 128.
37 Oil on canvas, 40 x 50 in (101.6 x 127 cm), Derby Art Gallery. The work is almost exacltly the same size
as as its companion as well as Penelope Unravelling her Web, by Lamp-light (40 x 50 in) and The
Corinthian Maid (41 7/8 x 51% in). It is commonly referred to as The Indian Widow.
20
women separated by an ocean but united by a common theme of loss. Above the waves
in The Indian Widow, a storm is raging, lightning strikes, and the clouds swirl in a vortex
that echoes the swirling clouds and smoke of many of Wright's scenes of erupting
volcanoes. In fact, Wright has placed a smoking volcano in the far distance of the right
side of his painting, although in comparison to his other scenes of erupting, molten-lava
spewing monstrosities, this one is quite tame. Though this scene is meant to occur in the
daytime, the storm greatly darkens the sky and the head of the Widow blocks the light
source. A light-yellowish glow in the background shifts to a pinkish color and finally to
a dark grey. In total, the forces of nature combine together to create a quite sublime
setting.
The opening of the clouds echoes the similar device in The Lady in Milton 's
Comus but then amplifies the intensity greatly, creating a piece that prefigures the future
work of Turner. This opening provides a frame that surrounds the figure of the Widow.
She sits near the base of a ceremonial mourning war-pole that holds the accoutrements of
her deceased husband. It was her duty to sit a watch during daytime throughout the first
moon following the death of her husband. During this time she was not allowed any
company.38 She is placed in a position that creates a parenthesis to the figure of the Lady
in Comus, and the two women face each other. Though she is seated, her body is curved
in a similar manner to the Lady, and like the Lady, her arm closest to the foreground is
angled diagonally downwards toward the ground. Her right arm is raised up, and she
leans her head against it in a pose of despair, but also of physical stress. Like the pose of
38 Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 130.
21
the Lady, the Widow's pose expresses to the viewer the awful situation in which she is
placed, and pleads for sympathetic understanding. Wright must have been hard-pressed
to discover the appropriate garb for his mourning Native-American widow, and instead
turned to the "well-worn neo-classical draperies which served in art in his day for any
distressed female figure. ,,39
Wright frequently painted companion pieces. In addition to the two works just
discussed, he also included in his 1785 exhibition Penelope Unravelling her Web, by
Lamp-Light and The Corinthian Maid. As a group these four paintings all celebrate
virtuous women. Three other sets of companions were also included in the exhibition.
These are the pairings of Hero and Leander with Drowning ofLeander; A distant View of
Vesuvius from the shore ofPosilipo with The Companion, in the gulf ofSalerno; A View
ofDovedale, morning with A View ofDovedale, evening.
In addition to the connections already mentioned, the two pieces are unified in
other ways as well. Both figures are framed by a large tree just behind them. This area is
also relatively darker than the rest of the composition and serves as an anchor that keeps
the eye from leaving the outer edge of either work. Both compositions are built up on a
diagonal. In The Lady in Milton's Comus this diagonal begins in the top left comer and
slopes down towards the lower right. The situation is reversed in The Indian Widow so
that the diagonal meets in the lower comer closest to the other painting. This causes the
viewer to create a visual connection between the two pieces.
39 Benedict Nicolson, "Two Companion Pieces by Wright of Derby," Burlington Magazine 708 (1962):
113-117.
22
It is possible that another painting hung between these two. We know from
Wright's April 1784 letter to William Haley, for instance, that he intended to hang
Margaret and William between Penelope and The Corinthian Maid. Whether that was
the situation for this pair or not is hard to say, for if we follow the ordering in the
Exhibition catalog, this would not be the case, but rather, the paintings would have hung
side by side.
Many of Wright's paintings are night scenes in which moonlight is either a major
feature or serves as a strong secondary feature. Judy Egerton comments that:
Wright's 'Lady' of course shares her scene with moonlight; and it was probably
moonlight rather than the Lady which inspired it. Wright's representation of
moonlight here is subtle and poetic, lacking all the histrionic effects of such
earlier moonlit scenes as the Detroit Matlock High Tor [ca. 1777-1779] or the
Virgil's Tomb of 1782. As Wright remarked to his friend and patron Daniel
Daulby in a letter of 25 March 1786 (Derblo Public Library), 'Moonlight pictures
require a good light but not a glaring one'. 0
Egerton's assessment is accurate in part. The light emanating from a bright full-moon in
Matlock High Tor (Figure 5), which was also
shown in Wright's 1785 exhibition, casts itself
vibrantly down upon the cliff-face, lake,
stream, and forest below bathing all in a pale
light. The subject of this work at first appears
Figure 5. Matlock High Tor, 1777·9, Nicolson,
132.
40 Egerton mentions Matlock High Tor, but gives the figure number for Matlock Tor, Moonlight. See
Egerton, Wright of Derby, 128.
23
to be the effect of light, a topic Wright that fascinated Wright throughout his life. In
another work depicting the same site from a different point of view, Matlock Tor,
Moonlight (Figure 6, ca. 1777-1780) the landscape is also completely illuminated by the
moon, making the subject of the painting the moonlight itself. However tempting it is to
just chalk Wright's nocturnal paintings up as studies in moonlight, further investigation
demonstrates that this was not the only force operating on Wright. Prior to its 1785
publication, William Gilpin's Observations Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty had
passed through many hands in manuscript form. 41 Gilpin's work recounted his travels
through the Lake District, the Peak District, and the Derwent and Dove valleys. As he
traveled through each of these regions he evaluated their scenery. He described the vale
of Matlock as, "a romantic and most delightful scene, in which the ideas of sublimity and
beauty are blended in a high degree," and Matlock Tor, as the "most magnificent rock,
decorated with wood, and stained with various hues, yellow, green, and grey.. .It is
impossible to view such scenes without feeling the imagination take fire. ,,42 Even if
41 Gilpin's definition of picturesque varied as his career progressed. In its earliest usage it simply implied
that which is suited to pictorial representation or is expressive ofthat peculiar kind of beauty, which is
agreeable in a picture. However, beginning around 1782, Gilpin also came to include and popularize the
picturesque of roughness and intricacy. This latter addition may remind readers of certain features ofthe
sublime, and it is no surprise that the definition of both philosophical terms was widely discussed by
aestheticians, gardeners, and painters during the latter half of the eighteenth-century. See Walter John
Hipple, Jr., The Beautiful, The Sublime, & The Picturesque in Eighteenth-Century British Aesthetic Theory,
(Carbondale: The Southern Illinois University Press, 1957), 192-3. Hipple's book is an excellent source for
further reading on the picturesque and those key figures associated with it such as: William Gilpin, Sir
Uvedale Price, Humphrey Repton, and Richard Payne Knight.
42 Quoted from Gilpin in Daniels, Joseph Wright, 68-70.
24
Wright himself had not read a version of Gilpin's work, it is likely that he would have had
its ideas or those of Price, Repton, and Knight disseminated to him through his educated
circle of friends. Christopher Hussey explains the picturesque in relation to the
eighteenth-century artist and viewer as, "a long phase in the aesthetic relation of man to
nature," in which, "poetry, painting, gardening, architecture, and the art of travel may be
said to have been fused into the single 'art of
landscape.,,,43 He further points out that the
picturesque phase of art marked a transitional
period between classicism and romanticism,
between reason and imagination.44 This is
also a good way to view many of Wright's
paintings that so often share elements of both.
Figure 6. Matlock Tor, Moonlight, 1777-1780, Beyond the aesthetic, Wright's friend the
Nicolson, 135.
Reverend Thomas Gisborne saw a connection between nature and society. He
championed forest scenery for its natural beauty and social order and felt that government
and society should model itself on such ideas. His thoughts and writings proved
influential to his friend Wright as well as both Price and Gilpin.45
In addition to the ideas of the picturesque landscape that pervaded the times, the
area around Derbyshire was home to a great deal of scientific investigation. Wright's
43 Christopher Hussey, The Picturesque: Studies in a Point oj View, (London: Putnam, 1927), 4-5.
44 Hussey, The Picturesque: Studies in a Point oj View, 4-5.
45 Daniels, Joseph Wright, 72.
25
friend John Whitehurst conducted many geological studies of the earth relating to
earthquake and volcanic activity.46 Also, Daniels notes that Wright included in his
paintings signs of industry and progress including: mines, carts, and mineral deposits.47
Wright would reasonably have been proud that his home was a site of scientific
investigation and enlightenment as well as industrial progress. It is not unreasonable
then, to suggest that his works were not just
Figure 7. Dovedale by Moonlight, 1785,
Egerton, 181.
simply studies of the landscape and
nighttime lighting, but also a reflection of his
developing world.
Another piece, Dovedale by
Moonlight (Figure 7, 1785), was also shown
in Wright's exhibition. Like The Lady in
Milton's Comus, Dovedale by Moonlight was
also a companion painting, and it was also paired with a daylight scene. Again the
landscape features in the painting are revealed by the moonlight, but not nearly to the
extent of the pieces discussed above. Wright also managed to position a tree on the right
side of the painting in a way that allowed the branches of it to cross the path of the moon,
thus establishing a contrast between light and dark. This strategy was greatly improved
upon for his Comus, in which a higher degree of contrast exists and an almost absolute
black and white can be found within the work. While the sky in Dovedale glows with a
46 Daniels, Joseph Wright, 67.
47 Daniels, Joseph Wright, 70.
26
greenish tint, that in The Lady in Milton's Comus is a silvery shade of white. The trees in
Comus appear much more naturally positioned and are believable, while those in
Dovedale hint at artifice. The large tree in Dovedale appears to be placed for the sake of
compositional unity. Conversely, Egerton sees a lack of picturesque adherence in
Dovedale and says that Wright painted what he saw; an unconventional move of
realism.48 Nicolson notes Wright's patron Edmund Mundy's interest in Dovedale for its
Gothic appea1.49 As with many of Wright's works, it is not easy to classify either of these
paintings as one thing or another; they are hybrids.
In the Virgil's Tomb (Figure 8) of
the tomb and reflects off of the walls in
Moonlight filters down through the back of
Wright's will to create a grand illusion, but
1782, moonlight is a dominant element. 50
Indeed the lighting was especially bent to
what Nicolson feels is a "stagy" manner. 51
Figure 8. Virgil's Tomb, 1782, Nicolson, 147.
one must not forget that the original concept for the painting had been an exploration of
the story of Silius Italicus, the eccentric poet who annually celebrated Virgil's birthday.
It is known that Wright produced another version in 1783 for his friend Haley, and it is
48 Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 181. I suggest that without actually seeing the site in its original condition, it is
hard to determine how picturesque or realistic the scene actually is.
49 Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 97. The gothic will be examined in chapter 3.
50 Wright painted several versions of this subject. His 1782 version was his third, and for this painting he
removed the figure of Silius Italicus from the tomb that can be seen in the earlier 1779 version.
51 Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 83.
27
believed that this is the same painting that he showed in his 1785 exhibition.52 It is only
possible to speculate on its appearance, but none-the-Iess, it provided the viewer with yet
another moonlight work to see.
In all of the above mentioned works, moonlight played a large part, while subtle
underpinnings such as landscape features, monumental stones, or a tomb existed in
secondary capacity. While the scene itself was interesting to the viewer, the treatment of
light was actually the more impressive
feature. In The Lady in Milton's
Comus, the opposite is true, and
moonlight can be seen as a secondary
participant in the drama. This is not to
say however that light is not important
in either The Lady in Milton's Comus
Figure 9. An Iron Forge Viewed/rom Without, 1773, or in The Indian Widow. While the
Egerton, 103.
Lady remains the star of the show, the silvery light heightens her expressive nature. In
The Indian Widow light is also important. The position of her head blocks out the sun,
and as a result of the swirling opening in the clouds, the viewer is presented with a sitter
whose head is surrounded by a halo of light.
The moonlight in The Lady in Milton's Comus relates more closely to that seen in
some of Wright's earlier works. For example, inAn Iron Forge viewedfrom without
(Figure 9, 1773), moonlight takes the back seat to the glowing forge in the foreground.
52 Nicolson, Joseph Wright a/Derby Painter a/Light, 142.
28
However, the night sky in this painting becomes a second focal point in the composition,
much as it does in The Lady in Milton's Comus. In comparing these two works one finds
similarities in the night sky. As the clouds part above, a silvery moon reveals itself in
part, allowing light to illuminate the earth below without overwhelming the composition
with its radiance. Also similar to the composition of The Lady in Milton's Comus, Wright
used the strategy of positioning the moon diagonally across from the primary focal point,
allowing the viewer's eye to move across the picture plane. This set of paintings also
provides another juxtaposition of night and day in a similar manner to the two views of
Dovedale.
Another picture of 1773, The Earthstopper on the Banks ofthe Derwent, operates
Figure 10. The Earthstopper on the Banks ofthe
Derwent, Egerton, 105.
in a similar manner to that of Comus. In
this work a man is positioned in front of a
grove of trees near the edge of a river.
Above and behind the trees is the moon,
only shown in part, and contrasted
against the dark foliage. The clouds in
the background have parted to allow the
nocturnal eye to reveal itself and cast its
light down upon the moving water. Unlike the composition of The Lady in Milton 's
Comus, this painting is not as well balanced. In The Earthstopper the moon is positioned
almost in the dead-center ofthe top of the composition, and is unevenly anchored by the
lantern at the bottom right of the painting. As a result, a greater weight is placed on the
29
right side of the composition that is not equally balanced by the foliage or the reflected
light on the water that occupies the left side.
While similar in some aspects to The Lady in Milton's Comus as far as lighting is
concerned, both An Iron Forge viewedfrom without and The Earthstopper on the Banks
ofthe Derwent, cannot compete with the level of refinem~ntfound in Wright's later
painting. The rendering of the figure and all of the objects in The Lady in Milton's
Comus is much sharper, and the modeling much smoother. The clouds in The Lady in
Milton's Comus are also much more realistic, and while the sky in both of the earlier
works has a bluish cast to it, Wright has stripped his palette down for the later work. The
sky shifts from white to a dark gray with a range of modulation in between.
What really separates these earlier works from Wright's The Lady in Milton's
Comus is the dramatic content and the combination ofNeoclassicism and the Romantic.
The genre scenes of the 1770's are interesting to the viewer, but the narrative ofthe 1785
painting is meant to move the viewer and trigger an emotional response while providing a
strong example of virtue.
Now that we have examined The Lady in Milton's Comus closely from a stylistic
point of view, we will now turn our attention to the role that Milton's writing played
during the eighteenth century in relation to painting. In the catalog accompanying
Wright's exhibition, prepared by his friend William Hayley and other poets, The Lady in
Milton's Comus is the first entry. It is followed by a passage quoted from Milton's
30
pastoral drama titled A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634, commonly referred to as
Comus. 53 The lines are spoken by the Lady:
Was I deceiv'd, or did a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night?
I did not err, there does a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night,
And casts a gleam over this tufted grove. 54
Wright frequently sought advice concerning literary subjects from his friends. He
corresponded with his family friend Mrs. Beridge on the topic of The Lady in Milton's
Comus. 55 What role she played is not entirely understood. In his letter, he noted that the
moonlight breaking through the clouds suggested to Mrs. Beridge the same passage that
he later quoted in his exhibition catalog. What is not clear is whether Mrs. Beridge
suggested a moonlight companion for the Indian Widow in which a scene from Comus
would be depicted, or whether, upon viewing the nearly completed work, she was
reminded of the specific passage from Comus. Judy Egerton suggests that Wright had
53 Pointon notes that it was a highly common practice for artists during the second half of the eighteenth-
century to append long passages of poetry to the titles of their works to better relate the narrative to their
audience. See Marcia Pointon, Milton and English Art, (Great Britain: Manchester University Press, 1970),
xxxiii. At this point, I must note that Marcia Pointon's work will be relied upon heavily in assessing the
artistic situation during the eighteenth-century. At this time, I know of no other source that discusses prints
and painting relating to Milton to such an extent as Pointon has compiled. Three other works are known to
me that discuss Milton's influence though they are concerned mainly with poetry and literature. They are as
follows: John T. Shawcross, John Milton and Influence, (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1991);
Albert C. Labriola and Edward Sichi Jr., Eds., Milton's Legacy in the Arts, (University Park: The
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988); Ronald Paulson, Book and Painting: Shakespeare, Milton and
the Bible: Literary Texts and the Emergence ofEnglish Painting, (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee
Press, 1982).
54 Bemrose reproduces the original 1785 catalog printed by J. Barker, Russell-Court, Drury-Lane.
SeeWilliam Bemrose, The Life and Works ofJoseph Wright, A.R.A., Commonly Called "Wright ofDerby, "
(London: Bemrose and Sons, 1885), 18. This passage also can be found in Flannagan, ed., The Riverside
Milton, 133.
55 Wright was a friend of both Dr. John and Mrs. Beridge. They were married in 1766, and she was the
daughter of George Buckston. Dr. Beridge was a Derby physician. Wright painted two little portraits of
them in 1776, but these have been lost. See Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 141-2.
31
developed the idea for the painting on his own, but requested Mrs. Beridge's assistance in
choosing a proper passage from Comus that would suit the work. 56
Regardless, the subject is taken from John Milton's (1608-1674) A Mask
Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634. Milton wrote extensively on religious and political
themes, drawing on his knowledge of Virgil, Homer, and the Bible. Today his works are
well known, but he was also very well received during his own lifetime and during the
first half of the eighteenth-century. Indicating his popularity, Stephen B. Dobranski notes
that only sixty years after his death, eight biographies had already been written about
Milton. 57 Milton is perhaps best known for three of his long poems: Paradise Lost (1667,
ten books; 1674, twelve books), Paradise Regain'd (1671), and Samson Agonistes (1671).
However, it is his shorter poem and masque Comus that is of interest here. 58
On Michaelmas Night, September 29, 1634, Comus was performed as a masque
in honor of John Egerton's (Earl of Bridgewater and Lord President of Wales and the
Marches) being installed at Ludlow Castle, which is located on the border of Wales and
56 Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 127.
57 Stephen B. Dobranski, "Milton's Social Life," in The Cambridge Companion to Milton, 2nd ed., ed.
Dennis Danielson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 1.
58 Masques were a product of the Jacobean and Caroline courts and developed up to the English Civil War.
A masque was more than just its author's poem. It also incorporated theatrical elements of stage design and
dance, and extensive collaboration would have been required to create a successful masque. These events
were normally held after Christmas during the festive season or on other important occasions. Generally,
masques involved younger members of the court. These masquers impersonated symbolic figures such as
"chaste goddesses" or "martial heroes" depending on the intended honoree's gender. Normally a masque
was performed in front of a monarch or other such dignitary, and mythologized the court to promote some
noble philosophy. The performance would begin on a stage and alternate with disorderly and chaotic anti-
masques, which emphasized the harmony of the main action. The masque would also include a series of
dances, gradually incorporating more and more of the audience, eventually turning the evening into a ball.
See Cedric Brown, "Milton's Ludlow Masque," in The Cambridge Companion to Milton, 2nd ed., ed.
Dennis Danielson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989),25-7.
32
England. 59 The masque of Comus performed at Ludlow Castle was nowhere near as
grand an affair as those that would have been performed for more important dignitaries.
The hall in which the masque was performed measured only sixty feet by thirty feet, and
Milton had very little in the way of stage scenery or mechanical devices. The technical
achievement of the night was when the river-goddess Sabrina rose through the stage in
her chariot. The group of masquers was quite small as well and was comprised of the
Egerton children including: Lady Alice Egerton (age 15); John, Lord Brackley (age 11);
and Thomas (age 9). They played themselves as opposed to the more traditional roles of
gods and goddesses. Another name that survives the record is Henry Lawes. He was the
court musician and singing teacher for young Alice. Additionally he acted the part of the
Attendant Spirit in the masque. Cedric Brown notes that the stripped-down provincial
masque was necessary considering Milton's limited resources, and he points to Milton's
text describing the moral perils of overly lavish affairs, which seems to be a convenient
out for Milton. 6o
As mentioned, masques marked special and important occasions. This masque,
while humble, was no different. A state occasion that signaled the arrival of a new
magistrate and governor is the first and foremost reason for the masque. The theme of
travel as performed by the children mimics the real life travel that the family had recently
experienced while touring their new domain. Also, Michaelmas was traditionally
59 While John Egerton was actually nominated to the post in 1631, it was not until July of 1634 that he and
his family arrived at their new home.
60 Cedric Brown notes that the stripped down provincial masque was necessary considering Milton's limited
resources, and he points to Milton's text describing the moral perils of overly lavish affairs, which seems to
be a convenient out for Milton. See Brown, "Milton's Ludlow Masque," 26-7.
33
associated with a change in government as well as a time that celebrated angels. The
Attendant Spirit serves this function. Additionally, to quote Brown:
At the same time, the masque's focus is on the people and region to which the
family has come, 'An old, and haughty nation proud in arms', says Milton's text
(33) in Neo-Virgilian fashion. So we are dealing with matters of good governance
and heroic spirit in a place of heroic associations. The masque is to define ideals
of personal and national governance. 61
Finally, Brown states that the masque dealt with youth and education. Overall, the entire
masque was atypical in its realization, and Milton specially adapted his poem to fit the
performance. He had previously arranged an even simpler affair two years earlier for the
Egerton's children called Arcades. Much like Comus the story was one of a journey in
which trials and temptations exercised the children's virtue. When Comus was later
published as a poetic work in 1637, Milton restored the text to its original format,62
Wright took his subject from Milton's Comus, and recreated in a pictorial format
the passage he quoted. While a few sporadic scenes from Comus appeared in the
eighteenth century, prior to Wright, nobody had depicted the same theme. However, this
should not lead one to suspect that Comus was not well received during the same period.
R.D. Havens has researched the number of editions of the various English poets works in
the eighteenth-century and discovered that Comus was reproduced in its original form,
three times. It also appeared in stage adaptations over thirty times. By comparison,
Shakespeare's Macbeth was only published thirteen times in the same period.63
61 Brown, "Milton's Ludlow Masque," 28.
62 Brown, "Milton's Ludlow Masque," 29.
63 Painton, Milton and English Art, xxxvi.
34
Comus and his lot were the epitome of debauchery. Milton created the character
of Comus, and explained that he was the progeny of Bacchus and Circe. Once grown,
Comus took to the shade of the forest and assailed unlucky travelers. Comus especially
preferred virgins. 64 He would pretend to come to their aid and offer them a drink of his
"orient liquor. ,,65 Those that drank his "potion" would lose the human appearance of their
face, and have it replaced with the features of the "wolf, bear, ounce, tiger, hog, or
. bearded goat" while retaining the normal features of the rest of their bodies.66 Once the
transformation or metamorphosis occurred, the people would forget their former lives and
relish their new found life of sensual pleasure.67
At the point in Comus to which Wright's painting refers, the Lady is slightly
comforted by the break in darkness by the moonlight,68 The Lady and her brothers
become lost in the "tangl'd wood.,,69 After some time of trying to find their way, the
Lady becomes weary, and after depositing her beneath a pine tree, her brothers go in
search of "berries, or such cooling fruit" for her. 70 In the process they become separated
from her. As she walks along on her own, she hears in the distance the sound of
64 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 130.
65 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 126.
66 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 126.
67 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 127.
68 The cast of Comus as mentioned earlier is relatively small and names are limited. The main character is
simply referred to as The Lady.
69 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 131.
70 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 132.
35
merriment coming from what she believes to be some "late Wassailers" in the distance.71
In the darkness her mind plays tricks on her and she begins to see shapes that mayor may
not be there.
She remains courageous in spite of her situation and maintains a "vertuous mind
that ever walks attended by a strong siding champion conscience. ,,72 At this point the
reader is reminded of her "pure ey'd faith" and "umblemish't form of chastity," and the
Lady believes that she will be protected by the almighty so long as she maintains her
faith. 73 As she is thinking these thoughts and hoping for aid, the clouds break and
moonlight shines down upon her. This is the part of the poem that Wright depicts in his
painting. Her spirits are "enliv'nd" by the moonlight, and she then feels compelled to
sing a song that she thinks will gain the attention of her brothers. 74
Unfortunately for her, Comus hears her voice first and finds her.75 Comus
abducts her and attempts to seduce her, but to no avail. Eventually her brothers, aided by
Sabrina, the virgin daughter of Locrine, are able to rescue the Lady from Comus and his
rabble. As with Penelope, the moral of the episode is that chastity prevailed over the
obstacles and challenges that were placed before the Lady. The Lady's chastity gave her
71 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 13 I.
72 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 132.
73 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 132-3.
74 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 133.
75 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 134.
36
'a hidden strength.'76 As the elder brother says in the poem, 'Virtue may be assail'd' but
never hurt,."n
While Wright was not the first to take a subject from Milton, it was certainly an
infrequent act during the first half of the eighteenth-century. The history of Miltonic art
began slowly and really dates to 1688. It was in that year that the first illustrated edition
of Paradise Lost was published by Jacob Tonson (1656-1736) with most of the
illustrations done by John Baptist Medina. In 1720, Tonson published Milton's Works,
and this volume was illustrated by Louis Cheron.78
Not surprisingly, most of the illustrations from this period belong to Paradise
Lost. Between 1724 and 1764, most of the illustrations of Miltonic subjects were
rendered by those in the circle of Hogarth. It was during this period that artists first
began to shake off the "tyranny of the Old Masters" in favor of modern art. 79
76 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 142.
77 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 149.
78 Interestingly Cheron, with the aid of Vanderbank, founded St. Martin's Lane Academy where Hogarth
later studied. Additionally, Cheron twice won the Prix de Rome for Miltonic subjects: The Expulsion and
Adam and Eve's Punishment. See Pointon, Milton and English Art, 2.
79 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 37.
37
Hogarth and his friends were a mix of artists and authors that worked closely with
one another making moralist-realist works. 8o Around this time, writers such as
Shaftesbury, Dryden and Pope were championing the enlightenment ideals of man
reflecting on man and striving for excellence. The ideas of self-advancement and
improvement were also demonstrated in the writing of Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot.
A concern with social problems and living conditions
began to crop up, and it was during this period too, that
a middle class of patronage began to develop that
allowed these young artists to explore such themes.8!
Figure 11. The Council in Heaven Hogarth had great success with his prints that put on
(left) The Council in Hell (right),
1724, Pointon, 44. public display the ills of the world at that time. Another
factor that increased the popularity of Milton during the eighteenth century was the rise to
power of the Whigs. Prior to this rise, many had derisively called Milton a Puritan and
Cromwellian. A return to high minded morals was just the catalyst that Milton's writings
needed, and by the 1730's his popularity was at an all time high.82
80 Hogarth's main group of associates included Roubiliac, Hayman, Fielding, Garrick, Gainsborough,
William Collins, and James Paine. This group regularly frequented Slaughter's Coffee House where they
exchanged ideas. Pointon notes that Jonathan Richardson frequently read extracts from his Life and
Explanatory Notes on Milton (1734) to the regulars at Slaughter's. See Pointon, Milton and English Art, 42.
81 Taking these ideas quite literally, Hogarth for example, released a series of engravings entitled The Four
Stages a/Cruelty that visually supported his friend Fielding's campaign against murder and robbery.
Fielding was a justice of the peace and highly involved with law reform, while Hogarth was a founder and
supporter of the London Foundling Hospital. See Pointon, Milton and English Art, 38-9.
82 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 39.
38
Additionally this period saw the rise of literary painting, as these young artists
championed the modern poets. French rococo infiltrated England to a small degree with
Paradise Lost: The Council in Heaven and The Council in Hell
art, and Hogarth early on championed a national school of
Hogarth and his circle believed strongly in the promotion of native
painting. 84 As early as 1724 he engraved two subjects from
for 'fancy' developed in this period, and the first appearances of
Chinoiserie and decorative Gothic features date to this period. 83
the arrival of Hubert Gravelot, a close associate of Hogarth. A taste
Figure 12.
Euphrosyne Leads the
Poet, 1749, Pointon,
40.
(Figure 11). His contemporary Francis Hayman provided an illustration to L'Allegro
(1749) titled Euphrosyne Leads the Poet (Figure 12) which demonstrates the combination
of a British subject with the influence of rococo. A major project on which Hogarth and
his friends worked was the decoration of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, a popular site of
London entertainment during the mid-eighteenth-century. The gardens included a full-
length statue of Milton himself seated on a rock posed as if he was listening to music,
much as his character in II Penseroso might have. There was also a Temple of Comus on
the site, which together with the decorations, transformed the gardens into an English
83 The idea of the fancy picture owes greatly to Watteau's visit to England in 1720. The subjects of his
paintings often were of fetes galantes (courtly and flirtatious picnics). The idea caught on, and a new strain
of painting developed in England in response that mixed levity of mood, frivolity, and pleasure into themes
that did not carry the high-minded morality of more serious painting. These pieces were generally small in
format and often of "young women in domestic settings or allegories ofthe senses." See Wilton, Five
Centuries ofBritish Painting: From Holbein to Hodgkin, 64.
84 Andrew Wilton, Five Centuries ofBritish Painting: From Holbein to Hodgkin, 67-8.
39
rococo faerie land. During these years, theatre was popular in London as well, and an
abridged version of Comus with extra songs became one of the most popular
performances of the century.85
It seems one of the earliest, if not the earliest illustration to Comus was created by
Francis Hayman probably around 1749. In his engraving The Brothers Attack Comus
(Figure 13) Hayman chose to illustrate the moment when the Lady's brothers break into
Comus' palace to rescue her. Perhaps owing to the many performances of Comus, or to
his own theatrical background, Hayman's piece looks quite staged.86 By comparison,
Wright's treatment of the subject is more naturalistic. Hayman mainly depicted scenes
from Paradise Lost, but one rare exception comes in the form of his engraving for II
Penseroso. In his engraving The Poet by the Pool (Figure 14, 1750-1753), he explores
the concept of poetic melancholy, an idea that became very popular during the eighteenth
century.87 Milton's II Penseroso was considered to possess positive spiritual and poetic
value. This piece foreshadowed the Romantic tendency towards the melancholic scene
and included symbols such as a shrouded figure, the moon, an owl, a still pool, and moss-
covered crumbling masonry. 88
85 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 46-7.
86 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 48.
8? Melancholy was a mood that was associated with death and also poetic self-awareness.
88 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 57.
40
As artists read Milton, each was able to pick and choose passages and episodes
from his oeuvre that suited his particular artistic interests. Marcia Pointon describes two
,\ main strains of interest in Milton's poetry that surfaced
roughly between the years leading up to the establishment of
the Royal Academy in 1769 and the end of the French
Revolution in 1800.89 The first strain reflected a continued
interest in subjects that lent themselves to the smoothly
curving lines and the decorative elements associated with
Rococo. This was combined with the Neoclassical-style
Figure 13. The Brothers
Attack Comus, 1749,
Pointon, 49.
figure that was being espoused by the Academy, lyrical
qualities found in Picturesque theory (specifically, the
elegant), and sentiment. In opposition to these concerns, another strain was more
interested in themes that were demonstrative of the Sublime. This variety incorporated
the heroic ideals ofNeoclassicism and combined them with the darker, more
melodramatic and emotionally charged elements that would later characterize Romantic
art. Pointon notes that numerous pieces from this time share the qualities of sentiment
and sublimity.
As mentioned earlier, Wright's friend John Hamilton Mortimer was a pioneering
figure in British narrative art. In the period between 1769 and 1800, he was the first to
create illustrations based upon Milton's poetry (1777). These four works were included
89 Painton, Milton and English Art, 62-3.
41
in Bell's Poets ofGreat Britain (1776-1782). While one generally associates Mortimer's
name with sketches of banditti or monsters, the illustrations that he provided for Bell
were quite tame in comparison and had much more in common with Arcadian or pastoral
modes of painting. Alexander Runciman took his landscape
from L 'Allegro and provided a rustic treatment, while the
engraver Robert Smirke employed a rococo style to his figures
from the same work. In 1786, Smirke exhibited The Lady and
Sabrina at the Royal Academy.9o One must wonder if Wright's
painting from the previous year inspired him to take up such a
similar subject.
Figure 14. The Poet by the Milton's writings were also influential on many of
Pool, 1750-1753, Pointon,
49. those who are associated with the roots of the Romantic
movement, and it is with this group that the second strain of interest in Milton can be
seen. For instance, the writers of the German and Swiss Sturm und Drang were among
the first to discuss the wildness, passion, and sublime elements91 that could be found
within the writings of Milton and Shakespeare. Fuseli, Barry, Mortimer, Romney, and
Blake all took interest in these authors and began painting subjects taken from their
works. Pointon notes that while these artists were undoubtedly exploring the ideas from
90 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 64-70.
91 Edmund Burke's A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin ofOur Ideas ofthe Sublime and Beautiful was
published in 1757 and was responsible for laying out the major characteristics of the sublime. "The
sublime is inspired by terror and fear and is characterized by obscurity, power, greatness of dimension,
vastness of extent, infinity, magnificence. It involves also loudness of sound, darkness and gloominess of
colour." See Pointon, Milton and English Art, 92.
42
their literary sources more imaginatively, all but Blake regarded themselves as members
of the long-standing academic neo-classical tradition.92 Fuseli not only exhibited
wholeheartedly at the Royal Academy, but was a strong proponent of neo-classical
dogma, and in fact translated Winckelmann.
While labeling these artists can be quite complicated, ascertaining the growing
popularity of Miltonic subjects is not. Pointon suggests that artists took up Miltonic
subjects because they offered a middle ground between ancient art and the modem.
While the subject matter met the demands of classicism, Milton's texts offered a wider
range of interpretation for the artist illustrating the scenes.93 In addition to showing at the
Royal Academy, Fuseli also showed his work at the Milton Gallery, a venue at which he
raised money by charging admission.94 James Barry, George Romney, and William
Blake were all interested in Milton and took many of their subjects from Paradise Lost,
L 'Allegro, and If Pensoroso.
Returning then to Wright's painting of 1785, one must consider the choice of a
subject from Comus. Pointon classifies Wright's painting in the category of sentiment
and pathos, echoing Nicolson's thoughts on the matter.95 She raises an interesting point
92 Pointon, Milton and English Art, xxv.
93 Pointon, Milton and English Art, xxvi.
94 In 1786 John Boydell opened his Shakespeare Gallery, a venue which Fuseli produced several works.
Following this entrepreneurial logic, Fuseli opened a Milton Gallery in 1790. The idea in both instances
was two-fold. These galleries promoted nationalism (native art based on native literature) and reflected,
"an ideal of a diversified and libertarian national genius sustained by democratic political principles."
Theoretically, pursuing such subject matter broke with a more conservative European tradition, and
supporting these artists would be seen as a patriotic act. It was also clever marketing. See Martin Myrone,
Henry Fuseli, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001), 60.
95 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 73.
43
in that she states that these qualities are not necessarily observed by the viewer if they
only see The Lady in Milton's Comus and have no knowledge of The Indian Widow. She
feels that it is the pairing that essentially makes these qualities apparent.96 Judy Egerton,
on the other hand, argues that these women are not as pathetic and helpless as they have
been made out to be. She instead feels that, while they have found themselves in rather
unfortunate circumstances, the women are taking matters into their own hands and
dealing with their situations as best as possible.97 In fact, the painting demonstrates a
multiplicity of influences on its own, and, in combination with the Indian Widow, is open
for an even greater range of meanings. We will next turn to a closer look at some of the
ideas that were circulating during the eighteenth century that would have had an impact
upon Wright's career.
96 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 73.
97 Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 130.
44
CHAPTER III
ART THEORIES AND LITERATURE
Having examined The Lady in Milton's Comus from a stylistic point of view as
well as relating it to its Miltonic source, we must now take into account some of the other
influences with which Wright came into contact as an artist. The Lady in Milton's Comus
is a painting of a woman breaking out of the forest into a moonlit clearing. She has lost
the company of her two brothers and hears ominous sounds in the distance that she
knows cannot be good. She is terrified.
Wright began his career as a portrait painter, and occasionally he painted
conversation pieces. How then did he create a painting such as The Lady in Milton's
Comus? This painting incorporates a wide variety of influences that were in circulation
during the eighteenth century amongst artists and writers. Some of Wright's earliest
pieces to depart from commissioned portraiture demonstrate knowledge of gothic motifs
that he would have been familiar with from literature. Gothic writers used dark and scary
locations for their stories and chose subject matter that explored sadness, terror, and the
supernatural to open up their readers to feeling and emotion.
While a taste for the gothic is visible in Wright's work before and during the early
1770's, a combination of the sublime, moral philosophy, and sensibility characterized the
new direction his work took during the latter half of the decade. The sublime also
depended on a strong emotional reaction, and those employing the strategies of the
45
sublime felt that this reaction in their reader or viewer was to be highly valued.
Sensibility too encouraged feeling and consideration of others. These ideas all shared an
emotional quality and were intended to invoke an emotional response from the viewer as
well as a reflection upon one's place in the world. This amalgam of influences
established a precedent for Wright's pieces of the 1780's while simultaneously placing
him among the first to utilize contemporary literature as an inspiration for subject
pieces.98
In order to understand how Wright arrived at The Lady in Milton's Comus in
1785, one must first look at the ideas and works leading up to that point. A pattern of
melancholy, harsh-circumstances, and sadness began to characterize many of Wright's
works during the late 1770's and early 1780's. Milton's Comus easily fits into this mold.
It should again be noted that around 1785 a wide range of artistic influences were
circulating in the British art world. Neoclassical, gothic, and proto-romantic strains of
painting were all occurring simultaneously, and Wright was able to produce paintings
that combined elements of each. It should also be noted that while some paintings can be
firmly established as neoclassical or romantic, many paintings overlap and borrow from
more than one mode. Additionally these styles do not always have steadfast criteria, but
are only convenient terms to help art-historians discuss art. Wright chose the style that
best suited his subject, often combining them, and by doing so was able to express his
theme more clearly. Nicolson sees a Romantic-Classicism in Wright's paintings of The
98 Nicolson notes that John Runciman had painted King Lear in a Storm in 1767, effectively predating
Wright's first subject pieces. See Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 150.
46
Lady in Milton's Comus and The Indian Widow. 99 Wright in fact, maintained a hybrid
position that always bordered between the two and felt the influence of several artistic
traditions. Looking at either painting, the viewer will see figures that look quite
neoclassical, yet these same figures are set in landscapes that are anything but. A viewer
looking upon The Indian Widow, would likely call the work romantic based solely on the
landscape setting. In contrast, the paintings of Penelope Unravelling her Web and The
Corinthian Maid are much more classical. In fact The Corinthian Maid is probably the
most classical subject Wright painted.
Up until the middle years of the eighteenth century, the terms "gothic" or
"medieval" generally carried a negative connotation. Historically the term "gothic" was
developed during the seventeenth century and was used to refer to art and architecture
dating to the fall of the Roman Empire through the beginnings of the Renaissance. The
general consensus was that the art and architecture of that transitional period was inferior
to ancient and Renaissance counterparts. Stylistically, the term gothic also referred to art
of the early Renaissance and Northern European art that did not conform to the classical
ideals associated with the direction taken by the Italian school. During the eighteenth
century, and even more so during the nineteenth century, an interest in the decorative and
architectural components of the gothic resurfaced in what has been called the gothic
revival. The term gothic is also associated with a renewed interest in British literature
99 By this Nicolson means that elements from both styles are being used simultaneously. See Nicolson,
Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 65.
47
and ballads. 100 It is this aspect of the gothic that relates to the ideas ofthe sublime that
were also developing during the eighteenth century. The combination of both of these
highly emotive trends were influential on Wright.
A new appreciation for the Gothic began to develop as antiquarian studies began
to gain currency in Britain and architectural elements such as the pointed arch and tracery
sporadically began to show up. This process had begun with William Camden (1551-
1623) and John Aubrey (1626-1697), who were among the first to begin compiling
fragments of the literary past that they associated with what they believed was a native
tradition of literature. They gathered ballads and broadsides printed in Old English script
(also called Gothic). Samuel Pepys and Joseph Addison were also among the first
collectors and compilers. In 1765, Thomas Percy (1729-1811) edited a large volume of
poetry titled Reliques ofAncient English Poetry.lOl Classical studies were given primary
status by the educated aristocracy during this period. The secondary avenue of thought
found within antiquarianism was in many ways contrary to that system. Additionally,
around this period, a literate middle class and a new reading public was on the rise. This
group held no allegiance to classicism. 102 Further, as ideas of national identity developed,
the British, incorrectly, came to believe that the Gothic style had originated in Britain and
100 During the Georgian period in England a new interest in melancholy, horror, gloom, and decay
developed. "The Gothic Revival began as a literary movement" that "reveled in the exalted psychological
states of Shakespeare's characters, the love of the fantastic and the supernatural in Edmund Spenser and,
later, the morbid graveyard poetry of Thomas Gray." "All these themes, which stood in opposition to the
classical values of clarity and orderliness, came to be associated with the crumbling Gothic landscape of
England. See Michael J. Lewis, The Gothic Revival, (London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 2002), 13.
101 Chris Brooks, The Gothic Revival, (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1999), 108-9.
102 Brooks, The Gothic Revival, 109.
48
began to adopt it as their own style. As Brooks notes, they also associated it with the
then "perceived Saxon/medieval origins of the British Constitution and the idea of native
liberties, while the classical style represented the paganism and oppressive tyranny of the
ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.'d03
As medieval literature began to be valued, opinion and theory was modified to
incorporate the perceived British tradition. Gothic architectural forms that were seen to
deviate from and violate the rules of Grecian aesthetics came to be seen as liberated
forms. This carried over to gothic literature as well. It was perceived as freer and more
imaginative as compared to classical literature that was more concerned with reason.
Richard Hurd (Letters on Chivalry and Romance, 1762) found a distinctive genius in
gothic romance that he felt was born of nature and not of culture. He identified Edmund
Spenser, William Shakespeare, and John Milton as the gothic trinity. 104
Working alongside the legitimate antiquarians, were the forgers James
Macpherson (Fingal, 1762; Temora, 1763; The Works a/Ossian, 1765) and Thomas
Chatterton, who created elaborate mythologies and histories of the British past. While
their works were eventually denounced as counterfeit, they helped promote a cultural
genesis separate and incongruous to neoclassical rationality and logic. As a more
nationalistic attitude developed in Britain, the idea that Britain had its own literary roots
not associated with ancient Greece and Rome was a welcome thought. 105
103 Robin Hamlyn and Michael Phillips, William Blake, 32-3.
104 Brooks, The Gothic Revival, 109-10.
105 Lewis, The Gothic Revival, 17.
49
Writing and thoughts on this subject explored a darker, more mysterious and
unfixed past that could not be unraveled by Enlightenment ideals. An interest in more
abstract thought, the supernatural, and in human emotion provided alternatives to the
hegemony of classicism. Gothic writers were interested in exploring the horrifying side
of nature, dark and dreadful places, and crumbling ruins. They combined these settings
with the mental and emotional turmoil of the human spirit, and they investigated horror
as a source of delight and beauty.l06 The so-called Graveyard School of poets including
Thomas Parnell (Night-piece on Death, 1722), Robert Blair (The Grave, 1743), Edward
Young (Night Thoughts, 1749-51), and Thomas Gray (Elegy Written in a Country
Churchyard 1751), helped to popularize ideas that they associated with the Gothic ruins
and churches: melancholy, superstition, mystery, and chivalry. 107 All sorts of dark
imagery accompanied their writing including: moldering tombs, ivy-covered towers,
owls, spooky churchyards, and eerie landscapes. The following lines belonging to
Thomas Gray describe the mock ruins constructed by Lord Holland in Kent:
Here mouldering fanes and battlements arise,
Turrets and arches nodding to their fall,
Unpeopled monasteries delude our eyes,
And mimic desolation covers all. 108
This example demonstrates the pairing of architecture and writing. Indeed this form of
writing was quite popular, and Macaulay notes that Gothic writing was so popular during
106 Terence Davis, The Gothick Taste, (Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1975), 16.
107 Davis, The Gothick Taste, 17-18.
108 Davis, The Gothick Taste, 17.
50
the eighteenth century that during the last thirty years ofthe century "almost every issue
of The Gentlemen's Magazine contained at least one gloomy and awful poem."ID9
These poets felt that this Gothic imagery contained a strong emotional quality for
their readers. By using darker, more terrifying imagery, they could tap into human
emotions. Additionally, many felt that the Gothic provided spiritual authenticity. The
emotional condition of melancholia was the key focus of these writers, and it was often
associated with ruins and the imagery described above. Theoretically when
contemplating such visual or literary stimuli, the viewer would reflect upon the brevity of
life and "universal transience."llD Chris Brooks connects these ideas with class
superiority:
A sentimental overview of mortality, a pious sense of the vanity of human wishes,
gave piquancy to the knowledge that one belonged to the class that owned, built
or visited ruins, and had the leisure necessary for their proper contemplation.
Heightened sensibility, a readiness to shudder at the grave or sigh amid the ruin,
became an aspect of class superiority - as natural as the property ownership from
h· h 111W IC power sprang.
Class notions aside, Brooks sums up the emotional motivations for portraying such
scenes either in text or image.
Wright's forays into Gothic subjects are evident in pieces such as The Alchymist
(exhibited at the Society of Artists, 1771),112 Miravan Breaking Open the Tomb a/his
109 James Macaulay, The Gothic Revival: 1745-1845, (London: Blackie and Son Limited, 1975), 16.
110 Brooks, The Gothic Revival, Ill.
III Brooks, The Gothic Revival, 111-12.
112 The full title of this painting is The Alchymist, in Search ofthe Philosopher's Stone, Discovers
Phosphorus, andprays for the successful Conclusion ofhis operation as was the custom ofthe Ancient
Chymical Astrologers.
51
Ancestors (exhibited at the Society of Artists, 1772), and The Old Man and Death
(exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1774). One of Wright's earliest paintings to
visually explore gothic emotion is The Alchymist (Figure 15), exhibited at the Society of
Artists in 1771. Wright has chosen a gothic setting: an interior of some tower or castle
complete with pointed arches and windows in which an aged alchemist has established a
laboratory.ll3 Wright has heightened the drama by making the setting very dark. The
only light sources are a small flame in the background,
a rather dull full moon peaking through a pointed
window, and light produced from a chemical reaction
that is occurring in front of the alchemist. I 14 The
painting depicts an alchemist's attempt to create the
philosopher's stone, a legendary stone that had the
power to transmute base metal into gold. One must
Figure 15. The Alchymist, 1771, imagine the sense of awe and wonder at the power of
Egerton, 85.
nature the alchemist is feeling as the reaction takes place. While the possibility of
creating the philosopher's stone would be very exciting, the possibility of failure would
be agonizing. What of the unknown result of the reaction? Could it be explosive? The
l13 On display here are the trappings of scientific inquiry. The carefully constructed laboratory likely owes
much to a translation by James Keir from the French ofM. Macquer's Elements ofthe Theory and Practice
ofChymistry published in 1771. See Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, I 19.
114 As the subject suggests, the alchemist is on the verge of discovering phosphorus. Klingender argues that
the purpose of the painting is to commemorate the birth of modem science, and relates it to the work of
Robert Boyle (1627-91) whose own work, which eventually leads into chemistry, was sparked by the
discovery of phosphorus. For a fuller discussion on the scientific aspects of this painting, see Egerton,
Wright ofDerby, 85.
52
alchemist must have felt excited and yet terrified at the same time. Wright was an avid
reader, and loved discussing the latest ideas of the day with his circle of friends. ll5 It
seems fitting that Wright, who himself was described by many as a melancholy man, has
chosen to use a gothic setting, which must surely be a reflection of his exposure to the
literature ofthe period. 116
In Miravan (Figure 16) Wright has painted a
scene of a young nobleman of Jezra, turning away in
disgust from a tomb that has just been opened by his
117 Th' . h h d ..servants. e VIewer sees In t e s a owy paIntIng an
ancient edifice that seems to be in ruins, housing the
tomb. The viewer is only given a small section of the
Figure 16. Miravan Breaking total space, and as the classical-looking arch in the
Open the Tomb 0/His Ancestors,
1772, Egerton, 93. background vaults upwards, one is reminded of Burke's
115 This passage from Daniels sheds some light on Wright's reading habits: "As well as modem works,
newly published novels and poems, newspaper reports, travel literature, peep-show transparencies,
educational treatises, moral tracts, essays in political economy and scientific diagrams, Wright drew on an
older tradition of hermetic knowledge in sixteenth and seventeenth century images and texts. The
appearance and meaning of Wright's paintings were shaped both by illusionistic forms of commercial
entertainment and by mysterious cabalistic texts. The light of pure reason was but one of the sources of
illumination in Wright's art." See Daniels, Joseph Wright, 10-11.
116 The Wright family traces Joseph's lifelong illness and suffering to his overexertion during his studies at
the Sistine Chapel in 1774 in which he had continually laid on his back while copying the figures on the
ceiling. See Nicolson, 9-10. He was never described as robust - more likely a hypochondriac with some
actual illnesses. He complained of rheumatism, a liver complaint, dropsy, etc. Oftentimes when situations
of a stressful nature arose, Wright would fall ill for several months at a time. As a result of continued
illness, Wright was often cantankerous and melancholy, but at the same time was a very kind and loving
man to his friends and family. See Nicolson, Joseph Wright a/Derby Painter a/Light, 15-22.
117 When this painting was shown at the Society of Artists in 1772, it was titled An history, Miravan, a
young nobleman a/Ingria, breaking open the tomb a/his ancestors in search a/wealth. Wright's Jezra was
misspelled as Ingria. See Egerton, Wright a/Derby, 93.
53
vastness. The space seems to be enormous and overpowering. Outside, dreary moonlight
shines, and inside the scene is lit by an oil lamp that is turned away from the viewer.
This light illuminates the grisly scene of the cracked-open tomb. Both the moonlight as
well as the lamplight creates an eerie mood and a sense of drama in the painting. Through
the ruined side wall of the tomb, the viewer is greeted with the skeletal remains of
Miravan's ancestor. According to the story, which is taken from an unknown source,
Miravan had been visiting the tombs of his ancestors when he noticed a tablet inscribed
with a message describing immense wealth within. 1IS He ordered his servants to break
in, only to discover bones and ashes. Inside is another message:
Here would have dwelt eternal repose a treasure that Croesus never possessed
which thou hast driven hence being excited by an insatiable love of Gold, to
disturb the sacred remains of thy progenitor. Had not thy reason been deluded
by a false fancy she would have told thee that the grave contains nothing but
dust and ashes. 119
118 One possible source is Herodotus. "The same tale is told of Darius, son of Hispapes, opening the tomb
ofNicotris, Queen of Babylon, who gave orders that her tomb should bear the inscription to the effect that
incalculable treasures were to be found there, of which advantage should only be taken in case of dire
necessity." Inside the tomb a similar message as Wright recreates is discovered. Nicolson points to two
other similar depictions: one a bronze plaque dating to the late 16th century, and the other, a painting by Le
Sueur at the Hermitage of which prints were made and circulated. He suggests that the moral lesson ofall
of these pieces was popular during the eighteenth century. See Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter
ofLight, 53-4. Additionally, Waterhouse says of Miravan, "It is rare in England to find a painter so closely
in line with contemporary trends in literature and fashionable artifacts." He also calls it Wright's "first
romantic history." See Waterhouse, Painting in Britain, 286.
119 Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 94.
54
So here the moral is that greed is bad, and that the greedy will be punished in the
end. Wright's paintings often have multiple layers and influences, and characteristically,
this painting does not follow the gothic formula completely. While it borrows such
elements as horror, death, and the macabre from the gothic and uses such props as a
tomb, a skeleton, and the moon in a cloudy night sky, the painting also has elements that
appear to be classical such as the tomb
and the arch above it, as well as the
figure of Miravan. Rather than a musty
old ruinous castle, it is set in an exotic
location with appropriate costumes for
its participants. The subject explores
the horrific idea of facing death, or in
Figure 17. The Old Man and Death, 1774, Egerton, 83.
this case, not facing death. The abject terror of defiling a tomb and finding skeletal
remains instead of treasure during the midnight hour readily entices the viewer to
contemplate the transience of life, greed, and the guilt and horror that would result from
such an activity. One would hope the viewer, upon contemplating the horrible image
depicted in the painting, would not make the same mistakes.
Yet another scene that explores extreme human emotion is Wright's The Old Man
and Death (Figure 17). Here the viewer is shown a rather horrifying and macabre scene
that takes place in a painterly landscape setting combined with overgrown gothic ruins.
In this piece Wright presents his audience with not just an inanimate skeleton that
55
represents the abstract idea of death, but an actual walking skeletal version of Death
himself approaching a cowering old man. Rather than a history painting, this piece is
allegorical. The old man has been traveling for some time and is exhausted from carrying
his load. Tired of his burden he asks Death to free him from his misery. However, when
Death appears, the man has second thoughts and pretends that he is only seeking aid with
his bundle. He falls backwards onto a rock which he appears to be trying to climb over
while focusing on the skeleton approaching him. He raises his left arm and hand in a
pose that attempts to ward off the figure of Death that comes closer by the moment. His
eyes are open wide with terror as he regrets his earlier words. Here the choice to suffer is
apparently preferable to dying. The feeling of despair would have resonated with
Wright's audience, and exploring the idea of death certainly fit with the contemporary
literature as describe earlier.
The scene is made even more horrifying, though, by depicting it in broad daylight.
While such a scene would usually be associated with nighttime and darkness, here Death
appears in the middle of a perfectly calm and clear day, reminding the viewer that Death
can come anytime. Wright has taken his subject from an old literary source but used a
setting that belongs to his world, and his figure is clothed in contemporary dress.
According to Rosenblum, the story most likely comes from a 1761 edition of Select
Fables ofEsop and other Fabulists. 120 The model for Wright's skeleton is taken from
Bernhard Siegfried Albinus's 1749 edition of Tables ofthe Skeleton and Muscles ofthe
120 Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 84. Nicolson (56), alternatively, feels that a more suitable source for this
subject is the Dutch artist Marcus Gheeraerts 1567 edition of Aesop. Another possibility is La Fontaine's
later rendering of the same fable. Both versions were widely available during the eighteenth century. See
Egerton, 83-4.
56
Human Body. 121 This piece provides a good example of Wright's interest in the gothic as
well as allowing him to demonstrate his fascination with science, and here particularly,
with anatomy. While exploring such an emotional subject, Wright still anchors himself
to reality and fact by incorporating such a realistic skeleton.
Another aesthetic theory that deals with human emotion is the sublime. The ideas
of terror and horror found a place with the sublime that Burke promoted. The discussion
of the sublime as it applies to the eighteenth century begins with John Dennis and Lord
Shaftesbury who had both published comments regarding their travels in the Alps. Both
had noticed the visual beauty of the mountains, the infiniteness of space, as well as the
horrors of nature. They encountered pleasure and repulsion. Joseph Addison furthered
the discussion with his essays that appeared in The Spectator (1712) and later in another
essay titled Pleasures ofthe Imagination. Addison proposed that the sublime has to do
with visual perception of objects, and he identifies three pleasures of the imagination: the
great, the uncommon, and the beautiful. Here great can stand in for the sublime, and a
separation between it and beauty becomes evident. This notion would be widely
discussed and debated during the eighteenth century as aesthetic theory was further
investigated. 122
Edmund Burke's 1757 A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin ofour Ideas ofthe
Sublime and Beautiful furthered the discussion of the sublime greatly. The powerful and
121 Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 84. Egerton notes that Mortimer owned a copy of this book, and that Stubbs
also used this book.
122 Hipple, Jr., The Beautiful, The Sublime, & The Picturesque in Eighteenth-Century British Aesthetic
Theory, 13-16.
57
magnificent forces of nature were examined thoroughly by Burke and divided into many
categories. Most of them pertain to the human experience of natural phenomena through
the five senses as well as psychological responses to external stimuli. He, like Addison
before him, defined the sublime as different from beauty. The sublime evoked intense
emotions through vastness. Vastness, in turn, inspires awe. The sublime was
superhuman, irregular, vast, and obscure. While Burke contrasted beauty and the
sublime, he felt that psychological states determined our awareness of both. Things that
are beautiful are things that we desire, whereas the sublime is life-threatening and
therefore terrifying. He felt that anything that caused or was related to terror was a
source of the sublime, and in turn was capable of producing lithe strongest emotion which
the mind is capable of feeling." 123 Interestingly, the sublime has the ability to both cause
horror as well as pleasure, since the viewer realizes that the perception is an imitation as
opposed to reality. 124 So it is possible for fear and attraction to occur simultaneously. As
applied to painting, this makes complete sense. As viewers, we may look upon a painting
and perceive the terrifying subject matter of the work and enjoy the painting at the same
• • <':' h 11 125tIme, as we are qUite sale III t ega ery.
123 Wilton, Five Centuries ofBritish Painting: From Holbein to Hodgkin, 78.
124 Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin ofour Ideas ofthe Sublime and Beautiful,
(Menston, England: The Scolar Press Limited, 1970), 75.
125 Vaughan elaborates, "Burkes theory was vital to the Romantics both because it emphasized the
suggestive quality of art and because it gave a new importance to the disturbing. The artist who
concentrated on this now was not simply engineering a Baroque thrill; he had become an explorer. For
Burke's notion of the Sublime emphasized that man was disconcerted primarily by that which lay beyond
his control or comprehension. Ultimately repulsion could become a new means of intimating the Ideal
which, for the Romantics, was always unknowable. Shelly, for example, declared that 'sorrow, terror,
anguish, despair itself, are often the chosen expression of an approximation to the higher good. '" See
William Vaughan, Romanticism and Art, (London: Thames and Hudson, 2003),33.
58
Looking back briefly at the painting of Miravan for example, one will see
elements of Burke's sublime. From the safe position of the viewer, one is confronted
with a tomb in a vast space. This tomb has been entered at night and is seen in a
flickering and weak light in contrast to the darkness surrounding all. The mood is
oppressive and the appearance of the skeletal remains pushes the atmosphere into an even
more terrifying place. This is a place that a viewer can enjoy from the safety of their
imagination, but would never want to be present at in reality. While the viewer is
attracted to the disturbing scene, they are simultaneously repulsed.
Wright's interest in the gothic and the sublime come to the surface in The Lady in
Milton's Comus as well. The emotional content of the painting is strong, and the ideas of
terror and obscurity are clearly visible. On terror, Burke states the following:
No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning
as fear. For fear being an apprehension of pain or death, it operates in a manner
that resembles actual pain. Whatever therefore is terrible, with regard to sight, is
sublime too, whether this cause of terror, be endued with greatness of dimensions
or not; for it is impossible to look on any thing as trifling, or contemptible, that
may be dangerous ... 126
Returning to the point in Comus from which Wright took his subject, one will recall that
the Lady is separated from her brothers and lost in the forest during the late hours of
night. As the woman breaks into the clearing, one may think of Burke's passage above
concerning the mind playing tricks on the individual. In fact, at that point in Comus, the
126 Andrew Ashfield and Peter de Bolla, eds., The sublime: a reader in British eighteenth-century aesthetic
theory, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 133.
59
woman had been, "calling shapes and beckoning shadows dire."m Burke's comments on
obscurity apply here as well:
To make anything terrible, obscurity seems in general to be necessary. When we
know the full extent of any danger, when we can accustom our eyes to it, a great
deal of the apprehension vanishes. Everyone will be sensible of this, who
considers how greatly night adds to our dread, in all cases of danger, and how
much the notions of ghosts and goblins, of which none can form clear ideas, affect
minds, which give credit to the popular tales concerning such sorts of beings ... 128
Nighttime heightens the drama. It is not a surprise that she imagines she is seeing things.
Alone in the dark, the mind tries to find patterns and make sense of whatever information
is available. Related to obscurity and the night is darkness, which Burke felt caused pain
based on optical strain. He felt that a sustained period of exposure to darkness would
cause pain, and provides as an example the effects of bad weather causing a state of
melancholy.129 Whatever dark imaginings go on in the mind are worsened by the
discomfort of darkness. While readers of Comus could likely imagine what the young
woman was going through, Wright captures the terror that surely would have been
present in his subject in a pictorial format. In his painting the Lady has just broken
through the forest into the clearing. She appears frantic and terrified. Her arms are raised
up in desperation. What little relief she momentarily obtains from the moonlight is
quickly dashed away by the immensity of the forest that she is in. She may very well die
in these woods. The viewer is forced to contemplate such ideas as fear and death.
127 Flannagan, ed., The Riverside Milton, 132.
128 Ashfield, The sublime, 133.
129 Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin ofour Ideas ofthe Sublime and Beautiful), 278-281.
60
Another item worth mentioning is the landscape setting of the painting. A great
deal of painting having to do with the sublime explores wildness and uncontrollable
forces in nature. Landscape painting, such as that of Salvator Rosa, was a popular form
for expressing these ideas. In The Lady in Milton's Comus the woman's situation is made
much more desperate because she is located in a wild landscape. There is no trace of
civilization in the painting and the woman is surrounded by a vast forest. She is on her
own for the moment, and the only sounds she can hear are not friendly. The landscape
found in the Indian Widow takes the sublime even further. The scene presents the viewer
with all manner of natural forces. In the background a volcano is erupting. The sky is a
swirling vortex of ominous clouds that are quickly blacking out the sun. A storm is
brewing and lighting is striking in the distance. Below her the ocean is tumultuous, and
waves are crashing. Braving these elements, the woman must sit a watch as part of the
mourning ritual she observes for her deceased husband. As if the devastation of losing
her husband is not enough she must also somehow survive the forces of nature. As in
The Lady in Milton's Comus, the dramatic landscape can be seen as a parallel of the inner
turmoil that the widow is going through.
While Wright sometimes chose to explore human emotion through death and
melancholia, most of his paintings were not nearly as grim as Miravan Breaking Open
the Tomb ofhis Ancestors or The Old Man and Death. Another lens through which one
can examine Wright's interest in human emotion is that of moral philosophy. Wright was
interested in the sciences and had explored this theme earlier in one of his most famous
paintings: An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768). While this painting's theme
61
is scientific, its subject is depicted with an emphasis on exploring a range of human
emotions and moral philosophy. Wright's painting is aesthetically pleasing, but it also
goes beyond this. It is a painting depicting a group of people observing a scientific
experiment, but it is also a painting depicting a group of people that are inquisitive and
curious about the world surrounding them, about human response to life and death, and
about love. As a whole, the painting
displays a range of human emotions,
and when confronted by such a scene,
the viewer is forced to ponder and
reflect upon what essentially makes
us human. By doing so, one also
Figure 18. An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump,
1768, Egerton, 58.
must consider one's responsibilities as a member of society. The dress and posture of the
subjects within the picture also reflects the class of citizen that would be viewing such a
painting and observing such an experiment.
In Wright's painting, a mixed group of men, women, and children gather around
in a dark room to witness the experiment. The air pump experiment was designed to
demonstrate the effects on living things of the deprivation of air. Normally the
experiment would have used a bladder or 'lungs-glass' rather than an animal. James
Ferguson considered the use of a living creature to be "too shocking to any spectator who
62
has the least degree of Humanity.,,130 Wright however, has placed a white cockatoo in
the top portion ofthe air pump to heighten the dramatic effect of the scene and to
provoke a greater emotional response from his subjects and from his viewers. As the
experiment is in progress, two young girls are terrified by the eminent demise ofthe bird.
One covers her eyes, while both are comforted by an older gentleman. The younger of
the two girls raises her eyebrows auspiciously indicating that she is quite concerned for
the wellbeing of the bird, however, she continues to watch as she is fascinated by the
experiment. Ellis Waterhouse describes the scene as being "natural and true" and
possessing "a great variety oftender human feeling.,,131
Here Wright captures human emotion. The children are disturbed by the
senseless killing ofthe bird and feel sympathetic. Though they don't necessarily know
why it is wrong, they do know that it is wrong, and feel terrible. The older man sees their
pain, and he attempts to comfort them. At the same time he is trying to meet their
emotional needs, he is explaining to them, in his most rational and logical manner, what
is occurring. Here perhaps is a true juxtaposition of the human spirit - on the one hand,
logical and rational; on the other, feeling and emotional. Just left of center, a scholar
explains the experiment to the group, and one senses the joy he feels in sharing
knowledge. He is not looking at anyone in the painting, but gazes outwards. Is he
connecting with the viewer and explaining the experiment to us? While others in the
painting reflect on the scientific aspects of the piece, a young man and woman to the left
130 Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 60.
131 Waterhouse, Painting in Britain 1530-1790, 286.
63
of the table are apparently distracted from the experiment by each other. They are
experiencing the feelings of love as they gaze into each other's eyes longingly.
When viewers looked upon an image such as this, they were meant to be informed
about their own position in the world. This in turn allowed them to contemplate and
question themselves morally and ethically, and by doing so, would hopefully improve
themselves and society. An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump illustrates these
concerns quite clearly. David Solkin notes that this type of painting is directly related to
the cultural currents of Britain at that time in that it represents, in an elaborate and
complicated composition, the public sphere of the eighteenth century. 132 Additionally, it
should be noted that these paintings were expressly produced for the same audience that
is depicted within the paintings. In these works, rather than providing the viewer with a
heroic protagonist, Wright instead presents his audience with the actions of polite society.
As David Solkin illustrates, the concept of instructing the viewers to know
themselves would have been familiar to Wright. George Turnbull's Treatise on Ancient
Painting (1740) modified the ideas made popular by Shaftesbury who had himself
borrowed from Aristotle's Poetics. While Shaftesbury felt that the highest duty of the
plastic arts was to "promote knowledge of the species, of our own species, of ourselves,"
Turnbull following Lockean tenets, proposed that painting had the ability to combine
both moral and natural philosophy in order to advance human understanding. 133
132 Salkin, Paintingfor Money, 227-228.
133 Salkin, Paintingfor Money, 228-9. Salkin spends a chapter of his book elaborating on these ideas.
64
The Lady in Milton's Comus also has moral content. In the story the woman will
come to no harm so long as she stays pure and maintains her chastity. As the brothers are
walking in the forest looking for her, they reassure each other that she will be all right
until they find her because she is pure. Because she is free from impure thoughts and
actions, and has maintained her chastity she is able to remain unharmed by Comus and
his band of miscreants. Beastly as they are, they know better than to harm such an
innocent. Wright's viewers would have recognized the virtue of the Lady and be
sympathetic to her distressing situation.
In addition to the ideas mentioned above, sensibility was another concept that
became popular in Britain during the second half ofthe eighteenth century. While
sensibility is often thought to be a very English idea, the writings of French philosopher
Jean-Jacques Rousseau were actually influential in its development. He felt that nature
was to be highly valued for its "unspoiled innocence" and "simplicity." These ideas
"awoke a desire" in people "for the simple life accompanied by emotional expressiveness
and openness." 134
David Hume and Adam Smith were amongst the proponents of sensibility.
These men and the other members of the Scottish Enlightenment in Edinburgh felt that
they were living at the height of civilization and noted the refinements of all parts of
134 Ann Bermingham, "Gainsborough's Cottage Door. Sensation and Sensibility," in Sensation and
Sensibility: Viewing Gainsborough's Cottage Door, ed. Ann Benningham (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 2005), 9.
65
human life towards perfection. 135 Ann Bermingham describes sensibility as "an
intensified awareness of another's feelings and an ability to enter into them. ,,136 Lord
Kames (Essays on the Principles ofMorality and Natural Religion, In Two Parts, 1751)
states, "Nature, which has designed us for society, has connected us together by a
participation in the joys and miseries of our fellow creatures. ,,137
A follower of sensibility would theoretically be able to "further sensitize" their
consciousness "in order to be more acutely responsive to signals from the outside
environment and from inside the body.,,138 By being able to relate to other people and
have a concern for them, one begins to have a sense of what is right and wrong, and can
begin to live one's life in a correct manner. Sympathy and empathy for other people as
well as for nature was promoted. Adam Smith proposed in his Theory ofMoral
Sentiments, "How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some
principles in his nature which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their
happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of
seeing it." 139 Despite reason and logic, humans are capable of acting for no other reason
than for making others feel good. In its most extreme application one might expect
135 G.J. Barker-Benfield, The Culture ofSensibility: Sex and Society in Eighteenth-Century Britain,
(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1992), 132. Other important members of this group include:
Henry MacKenzie, Lord Kames, David Fordyce, and William Cullen.
136 Bermingham, "Gainsborough's Cottage Door. Sensation and Sensibility," 8.
137 Bermingham, "Gainsborough's Cottage Door. Sensation and Sensibility," 8.
138 Barker-Benfield, The Culture ofSensibility: Sex and Society in Eighteenth-Century Britain, xvii.
139 Bermingham, "Gainsborough's Cottage Door. Sensation and Sensibility," 8.
66
people emulating popular sentimental novels to adopt the melodramatic acts of fainting
and weeping to accompany particularly moving experiences.
At the height of sensibility, the cultivated members of society felt that possessing
a sensitive character was integral to polite society, and that it was this characteristic that
made moderns superior to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Men were expected to
consider the feelings of others, and at the time, Knox argued, women benefited from
better treatment as men began to assume a milder manner and believed that women were
already "creatures of sensibility," and as such, "were to be socially valued." 140 However,
it was not long before feminists such as Mary Wollstonecraft pointed out that the ideas of
sensibility were actually "keeping women in a weak and infantile state. ,tl41 The
discrepancy in the treatment of men and women caused by sensibility stems partly from
the inaccurate belief that women's nerves were not as strong as men's, and that women
had a harder time controlling their nerves. 142 By the end of the eighteenth-century,
politicians were also criticizing sensibility "for leaving the body politic vulnerable to
French ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity. ,,143
140 Benningham, "Gainsborough's Cottage Door. Sensation and Sensibility," 9.
141 As a champion of women's rights, Wollstonecraft quite correctly pointed out that this attitude caused
men to treat women as inferiors, not as equals. Bermingham, "Gainsborough's Cottage Door. Sensation
and Sensibility," 9. She also argued that women, "were acculturated to an exaggerated identification with
sensibility" which caused them to have "weak and wretched minds and bodies." See Barker-Benfield, The
Culture o/Sensibility: Sex and Society in Eighteenth-Century Britain, 1-2. I must note here, that while this
topic is of great interest, it is not within the scope of this thesis to discuss at great length.
142 Barker-Benfield, The Culture o/Sensibility: Sex and Society in Eighteenth-Century Britain, xvii-xviii.
143 Benningham, "Gainsborough's Cottage Door. Sensation and Sensibility," 9.
67
The popularity of novels rose during the eighteenth century and sentimental
novels helped spread the ideas of sensibility. One work that greatly helped to circulate the
ideas of the cult of sensibility during this time was Laurence Sterne's A Sentimental
Journey (1768). Wright's taste for sensibility seems to have developed during his travels
across Europe to Rome around 1773. It is known that he was reading Sterne's book
during his trip, and as mentioned in chapter
one, was working on a painting titled The
Captive, .from Sterne in 1774. This piece,
along with its 1777 companion Maria
(Figure 19), demonstrates one of Wright's
early forays into the sentimental subject
piece. Wright was attracted to the dramatic
Figure 19. Maria,from Sterne, 1777, Egerton, and emotional qualities in such contemporary
107.
writing and eagerly adapted favorite passages or characters into pictorial form.
In A Sentimental Journey, the main character Parson Yorick travels to Paris
without a passport. At a certain point, the Lieutenant de Police calls on him in his hotel
and threatens him with incarceration. In fact, there is little chance that Yorick will be put
away, but the idea weighs heavily on his mind to the point that he can think oflittle else
besides being a captive. He holes himself up in his hotel room and lets his imagination
run rampant:
I took a single captive, and having first shut him up in his dungeon, I then look'd
through the twilight of his grated door to take his picture.
68
I beheld his body half wasted away with long expectation and confinement and
felt what kind of sickness of heart it was which arises from hope deferr'd. Upon
looking nearer I saw him pale and feverish: in thirty years the western breeze had
not once fann'd his blood - he had seen no sun, nor moon, in all that time - nor
had the voice of friend or kinsman breathed through his lattice ...
He was sitting upon the ground upon little straw, in the furthest comer of his
dungeon, which was alternatively his chair and bed: a little calendar of small
sticks were laid at the head, notch'd all over with the dismal days and nights he
had passed there - he had one of these little sticks in his hand, and with a rusty
nail he was etching another day of misery to add to the heap. As I darkened the
little light he had, he lifted up a hopeless eye towards the door, then cast it down -
shook his head and went on with his work of affliction. I heard his chains upon
his legs, as he turn'd his body to lay his little stick upon the bundle - He gave a
deep sigh - I saw the iron enter into his soul - I burst into tears - I could not
sustain the picture of confinement which my fancy had drawn. 144
In The Captive, from Sterne (Figure 20), Wright chose to depict a prison scene
from the book, reminiscent of a painting he
had done of the crusader Guy de Lusignan,
who had been imprisoned by the Saracens.
Wright's painting shows a malnourished,
aged man sitting in a ruinous and desolate
prison cell upon a pile of straw. There is
Figure 20. The Captive,from Sterne, 1774, very little detail in the cell, and the only hint
Egerton, 108.
of the outside world comes from an iron-barred window in the left ceiling. It is too high
and too overgrown for the prisoner to see out of it. Even if it was not, he likely could not
as he is shackled to the wall. The man slumps over upon himself in great despair as if he
is waiting for nothing more than death to free him.
144 Ian Jack and Tim Parnell, eds., Laurence Sterne: A Sentimental Journey and Other Writings (Oxford,
Oxford University Press, 2003),61.
69
Wright's portrayal of the captive fits closely with Sterne's text, but eliminates the
detail of the figure etching into the stick. Effectively, Wright changes the captive man
from a figure that is still actively, even if only to the barest degree, hoping for eventual
freedom and converts him into a more resigned man who has accepted his fate, "the
desolation of infinite solitary confinement." 145 Wright's portrayal of the captive is so
pathetic and miserable that viewer's would look at this image and feel deep sympathy for
the figure, and hopefully by doing so become a better people themselves, perhaps
viewing others in society with a new perspective.
While the story of Yorick's imaginings of deprived liberty and the internal mental
struggles of such a perception provided an intense psychological subject for The Captive,
Wright's later companion painting of Maria (1777) was much more effective in tugging
at the viewer's heartstrings. Maria, another character found in A Sentimental Journey,
originally appeared in Sterne's earlier work Tristram Shandy (1759-1767). She appears
in the earlier story as a very troubled figure encountered by Shandy after he hears her
playing melancholy and tender cadences on her pipes. The reader learns that she has
been deserted by her lover, that her father has recently died, and she may now be losing
her senses as well. 146 In A Sentimental Journey, the inspiration for both of Wright's
treatments of the subject, Maria is visited again, this time by Parson Yorick, who does not
physically appear in the picture, but must be played by the viewer.
145 Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 110.
146 Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 106.
70
At a little opening in the road leading to a thicket, Yorick discovered poor Maria
sitting under a poplar - she was sitting with her elbow in her lap, and her head
leaning on one side within her hand - a small brook ran at the foot of the tree ...
.. .Her goat had been as faithless as her lover; and she had got a little dog in lieu
of him, which she had kept tied by a string to her girdle; as I look'd at her dog, she
drew him towards her with the string. - 'Thou shalt not leave me Sylvio,' said she.
I look'd in Maria's eyes, and saw she was thinking more of her father than of her
lover or her little goat; for as she utter'd them the tears trickled down her
cheeks ... 147
As the reader will see, Wright remained faithful to Sterne's description. While
comforting Maria, Yorick begins to cry profusely himself. He is so moved by the
experience that he comes to the conclusion:
I am positive I have a soul; nor can all the books with which materialists have
pester'd the world ever convince me of the contrary.148
The painting of Maria is indeed pitiful. Without even knowing the story, the
viewer would immediately recognize the woman as heartbroken. Maria sits beneath a
tree slumped over. She rests her left arm on her knee and props up her head with her left
hand. She looks off into space at nothing in particular, simply reflecting on her own
misery. Someone has hurt her deeply, and one can almost hear her sighing as one look's
at the canvas. As Egerton notes, the elegant figures in both it and The Captive evoke pity
from the viewer, an artistic motive perfectly in line with those spectators familiar with
sensibility.149 Here too, one sees the influence of classicism that Wright was exposed to
147 Jack and Parnell, eds., Laurence Sterne: A Sentimental Journey and Other Writings, 95.
148 Jack and Parnell, eds., Laurence Sterne: A Sentimental Journey and Other Writings, 95.
149 Additionally, the specific character of Maria was quite popular, and no fewer than twenty versions of the
subject were exhibited or engraved between 1777 and 1819. "The most popular was Angelica Kauffmann's
Maria, of which there were various engravings. Gordon quotes Joseph Moser's report that the Kauffmann
71
during his time in Italy. The figure of Maria is delicate and careful attention to her
outline is apparent. The drapery of her dress is rendered in elaborate detail similar to
many of the subjects he would paint during the I780s.
The dynamic between these two paintings prefigures the pairing of The Lady in
Milton's Comus and the Indian Widow by several years. Wright created several sets of
pendant pieces in his career, and they consistently heightened whatever effect he was
trying to achieve. Like the later paintings, the figures in Maria and The Captive face
each other in bent-over languid positions. The figures all share an infinite sadness or
melancholy. Their postures indicate their plight and the acceptance of their fate. Of the
group, only the Lady from The Lady in Milton's Comus possesses the slightest amount of
optimism. Here, as with the other paintings, Wright has taken care to balance the works
compositionally and tonally so that they are able to maintain a dialogue with each other.
In both paintings the subjects are seated hunched over not really focusing on anything at
all. While Maria has her head propped on her hand, the Captive rests his hands on his
lap. Both sit with their legs stretched out, and when viewed together, their postures are
semi-symmetrical. Additionally the lighting is even in both paintings and the palette is
restricted to earth tones. Because both subjects are so sad, they serve to heighten the
sensation of their corresponding pendant.
design was 'transferred to a variety of articles of all sorts and sizes, from a watch-case to a tea-waiter'," See
Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 106-107,
72
Nicolson notes the relationship between The Lady in Milton's Comus and the
Indian Widow and Wright's second version of Maria from 1781. The later painting of
Maria, from Sterne, a Companion to the Picture of
Edwin (Figure 21) is also a painting of a sad woman, a
theme that would have been inspired by the then
current literary trend of sensibility. For this
companion piece, Wright amplified the sadness of the
young woman and increased her elegance. Wright
filled much more of his canvas with the figure of
Maria, just as he had done with the painting of Edwin
three years earlier. The viewer focuses much more on
Figure 21. Maria,from Sterne, a this central figure and less on the secondary details or
Companion to the Picture ofEdwin,
1781, Egerton, 115. landscape. This has the result of making the viewer
much more aware of the sadness expressed by both figures. Again, as with the previous
pair of paintings, the figures' slumped over postures in combination with their distant
gazes indicate their melancholy state. Wright also made Maria appear a few years
younger so that she would be more of a match for the youthful Edwin. The two figures
face each other in seated bent-leg positions. Both rest their head on a hand while leaning
forward, and both hold a pipe or recorder, a symbol of the melancholic music that both
were known to play. ISO Edwin's posture is reflected by Maria's, and the dark area behind
150 Sadly, much like the pairing of Comus and Indian Widow, the paintings ofEdwin and Maria were never
shown together as Wright had intended. John Milnes purchased Edwin but not Maria. See Egerton, Wright
ofDerby, 115.
73
each oftheir backs keeps the viewer eye from wandering away, keeping them focused on
the melancholy figures.
This companion painting to the second
versions of Maria is Edwin, from Dr. Beattie's
Minstrel (1777-1778) came from Dr. James Beattie's
long poem The Minstrel; Or, The Progress ofGenius,
a Spenserian inspired piece that was well received
during the 1770's and would have been familiar with
Wright's audience. The romantic figure of Edwin is
the child of "a shepherd-swain of low degree," and he
Figure 22. Edwin,jrom Dr. Beattie's
Minstrel, 1777-8, Egerton, 114.
wanders the countryside spending his time exploring "deep untrodden groves" and
contemplating and responding to the sublime state of nature:
... Whate'er of beautiful, or new Sublime, or dreadful, in earth, sea, or sky
By chance, or search, was offered to his view,
He scanned with curious and romantic eye... (stanza LVIII)151
He is very much a solitary figure and prone to be quite a melancholic youth.
Egerton points to stanza XXII as a useful descriptor of Edwin's disposition:
Even sad vicissitude amused his soul:
And if a sigh would sometimes intervene
And down his cheek a tear of pity roll
A sigh, a tear, so sweet he wished not to controL .. 152
151 Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 113.
152 Egerton, Wright ofDerby, 113.
74
Again Wright has stayed faithful to Beattie's text.
Wright's Roman sketchbook reveals the early sources for the pose of Edwin. This
pose is reversed for Maria. It seems that he evolved his figure to reveal its most
contemplative and melancholic state over a period of about four years. One of the earlier
drawings depicts a boy sleeping while sitting and resting his head on an unknown object.
The other shows a boy resting his arms on his knee that is itself resting on a short wall. 153
His final version of Edwin combines the best features of these two drawings with a 1777
pencil drawing of Thomas Haden to produce a very melancholy boy.154 The figures of
Edwin and Maria are seated in a relaxed manner, slumped over on an arm propped up on
a crossed leg. He also painted his figures in pale and drab colors while placing them into
low-light backgrounds that heighten the gloom of the pieces.
These techniques would reappear and be refined even further with the pairing of
the The Lady in Milton's Comus and the Indian Widow. The figure in the Indian Widow
is posed exactly the same way as Maria, from Sterne, a Companion to the Picture of
Edwin, while The Lady in Milton's Comus pushes the desperation of the figure even
further. While the Lady is frozen in place on the surface of the canvas, the viewer cannot
help but detect the nervous energy bound up in her figure. The woman is posed in such a
manner that could she move, she could only bound forward. Her right foot is already
leaving the ground and her knees are bent in a manner indicating motion. All of the lines
153 Nicolson does not identify the sources for the sketches, but merely suggests they are sketched from the
antique. For images found in the Roman sketchbook, see Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter of
Light, 63.
154 Haden was a Derbyshire boy of about 16 or 17 who later became a surgeon. See Nicolson, Joseph
Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 62-3.
75
of her drapery serve to increase the perception of frozen energy. While the viewer might
recall the lines from Comus indicating the Lady's uplifted spirits at the moment during
which she arrives at a clearing and is greeted by the silvery moon, Wright's portrayal of
her does not suggest this. The woman looks more desperate than uplifted. Her body
language indicates that she is not only scared but terrified, and her upward glance toward
the break in the clouds is more suggestive of panic than it is of hope. A sentimental
viewer would be able to recognize the woman's predicament and feel sympathy for her.
Having now explored several influential factors upon Wright's career it is possible to say
that none of these elements are solely responsible for the manner in which he painted The
Lady in Milton's Comus. It is also possible to say that all of these factors contributed to
his depiction of the Lady. Wright was flexible when it came to painting and chose a
style, or several styles and ideas that would best suit whatever subject he was painting.
This should not come as a surprise since the eighteenth century was a melting pot of
many philosophical, literary, and artistic ideas.
76
CHAPTER IV
THE LADY'S LEGACY
Before concluding the story of Wright's painting The Lady in Milton's Comus, one
more influence must be mentioned, that of Wright's friends. Wright was familiar with the
ideas of sentimentality and would have discussed them at length with his friend William
Hayley (1745-1820), a poet belonging to the sensibility cult, who often provided him
with advice and ideas for paintings. lss Hayley had given him the idea for William and
Margaret (Figure 23, also exhibited in the 1785 exhibition). This story came from
Figure 23. William and Margaret, 1784-5,
Nicolson, vol. 2, 152.
Thomas Percy's Reliques ofAncient English
Poetry, consisting ofOld Heroic Ballads,
Songs, and ofPieces ofour earlier Poets -
Chiefly ofthe Lyric Kind (1765) in which "a
Juliet-Comus-Maria-like maiden who had
died of love for William because he had
forsaken her and pledged himself to
another" appears in the departed lover's
155 Haley had been a friend of the Beridges, and in 1776 when he visited them at Derby, he met Wright.
The two quickly became good friends. It was during this visit that Wright painted both Haley and his wife.
In 1783 Wright gave Haley a painting of Virgil's Tomb and in the same year Haley (a poet) printed and
distributed his Ode to Wright. Wright greatly valued Haley's friendship and his advice and the two
corresponded and visited with each other frequently. See Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter of
Light, 141-2.
77
bedroom and chastises him for his wrongdoing. The following day, William goes to
Maria's grave, and upon touching his cheek to it, he dies. 156 As the story was gothic in
nature, Wright did not fail to include gothic details such as pointed-arch windows with a
view of a moonlit sky and gothic spires in the background. His figures on the other hand,
seem to be a hybrid. They have classical faces and drapery, yet they have long sinuous
bodies. Overall, the painting cannot compete with the refinement and skill shown in his
other subject pieces of the period. The lighting is not as well handled, and the details of
the room are not as finished as in his other works.
Hayley also played a crucial role in encouraging Wright to paint the The
Corinthian Maid, Penelope Unravelling her Web, by Lamp-Light; The Indian Widow; and
Hero and Leander. Josiah Wedgwood and Wright had discussed a commission for a
painting in 1778. Wedgwood wanted something that related to his industry of pottery,
and proposed The Corinthian Maid. In characteristic fashion, Wright stewed on the idea
for a couple of years before beginning the painting, and then while working on it, he
continually corresponded with Haley and asked his advice on the details of the scene.
Haley proposed in 1783 that Wright also paint companions to The Corinthian Maid. His
first suggestion was Penelope Unravelling her Web, by Lamp-Light. In the same year he
also proposed Wright paint The Indian Widow, and Hero and Leander. Wright liked all
of the suggestions and immediately got to work on them. All through the process,
Hayley continued to help with the details of the scenes. As noted earlier, the only
156 Nicolson, Joseph Wright ofDerby Painter ofLight, 152.
78
painting of our four virtuous women with which Hayley didn't assist with was Comus;
Mrs. Beridge instead had that honor.
After considering the many influences Wright had upon his work, one must
understand The Lady in Milton's Comus to be a multi-faceted painting. Stylistically, the
painting combines Wright's love of dramatic lighting, in this case moonlight, with a
landscape setting. His figure is neoclassical in style, yet his setting is not. Viewed in
relationship to its companion, The Indian Widow, several ideas surface. One is the
feeling of melancholy or sadness. As we have seen, this idea was developed both by the
Gothic school and by the cult of sensibility. The two are not necessarily mutually
exclusive either. The idea of emotion or sentiment invoked by a painting is shared by
both. When viewed with its companion, the idea of the sublime may also be introduced
to the viewer's mind, and though these paintings are not a part of Romanticism proper,
they definitely share elements with that movement.
In combination with Penelope and The Corinthian Maid the situation becomes
even more complicated. Both of these latter works inadvertently reference industry and
invention. All four of the women display virtue as well. Wright was interested in moral
philosophy as well as scientific enquiry, and this comes as no surprise as he himself was
a member of the Howdalian Society and likely a Free Mason as well. Many of his friends
were members of the Lunar Society, and in all of these circles, he would have been
exposed to the latest debates and discussions of enlightenment thought. Wright was an
avid reader, and his friends Mortimer and Haley often encouraged him to explore subjects
from literature. As venues such as the Society of Artists, the Royal Academy, Fuseli's
79
Milton Gallery, and Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery appeared during the second half of the
eighteenth-century, more opportunities opened up for artists to explore a wider range of
subjects. It was also during this period that a movement began to uphold native traditions
as worthy subjects for art, and Milton and Shakespeare were both quite popular. It was in
this matrix that Wright was able to paint The Lady in Milton's Comus.
The painting can also be seen as the embodiment of Wright's career and as a key
work in his 1785 exhibition, which in hindsight was really a retrospective of his career.
The Lady in Milton's Comus offers the viewer a glimpse of many of Wright's interests
including a study of moonlight, a landscape, and a literary subject. It also borrows
elements from the sublime and gothic as well as being a sentimental subject. The setting
and theme of the painting incorporates these ideas, while the figure of the Lady is clearly
inspired by neoclassicism. This hybridity is characteristic of Wright's oeuvre, and
allowed him to pursue a wide range of interests.
What happened after the exhibition? On June 26, 1785, Wright sent a letter to
Josiah Wedgwood that recorded the transaction between the two of them involving the
four paintings Wedgwood had reserved from the exhibition:
Mr. Smith had the picture of the Lady in Comus previous to my exhibition to
make a print from, and the plate is in good forwardness, so that if Mr. Wedgwood
can spare the picture now or at some future time to compleat the plate from Eo] Mr.
Smith will be much obliged to him - and I wish Mr. Wedgwood would
recommend to him to take pains with it and do the principal parts of it himself. 157
157 Nicolson, "Two Companion Pieces by Wright of Derby," 113-17.
80
From this letter, one discovers that Wright felt confident enough in this work to
immediately have an engraving done of it. He is referring to John Raphael Smith, who
was also responsible for several other engravings of Wright's work including The Indian
Widow. Smith took several years to finish the job, however, and the first edition of the
print did not appear until February 30, 1789. In another letter from Wright to Wedgwood
dated to January 22, 1789, Wright apologized for the length of time that the painting had
to remain in the care of Smith. Four states of the engraving are known. The first two
were rendered by Smith himself, and a workshop assistant did the third in 1802. Thomas
Palser republished the print on March 2, 1812.
As mentioned earlier, Francis Hayman had taken a scene from Comus in 1749,
and a year after Wright's painting, Smirke painted the Lady once again. It appears that
Wright was the first to choose the scene that he did, and also that his piece was a catalyst
for popularizing the Lady from Comus as a subject. It became one of the most popular
Miltonic subjects of the mid-nineteenth century. ISS In 1788 Thomas Macklin opened the
Poet's Gallery in Fleet Street, and in 1789 a Mr. Martin exhibited Comus Tempting the
Lady at that venue. Conrad Metz exhibited The Lady in Comus at the Royal Academy in
1791. 159 Also in 1791, E. F. Burney provided the frontispiece to Comus in Bell's British
Theatre series. 160 In 1794, Boydell employed Richard Westall to illustrate his edition of
Milton's Poetical Works. One ofthe illustrations included in that volume is Sabrina
158 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 73.
159 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 73. Pointon suspects that Mr. Martin is Elias Martin. Unfortunately
no trace of either of these works exists.
160 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 88.
81
Frees the Lady. 161 The woman in this scene shares the neo-classical face found in
Wright's treatment. William Blake did two sets of six watercolor illustrations for Comus
around 1801. These include: The Brothers Overcome Comus, The Attendant Spirit with
the Two Brothers, The Brothers under the Vine, Comus with his Revellers, and Sabrina
Freeing the Lady. 162
Francis Danby's Disappointed Love of 1821 may have been inspired by Wright's
painting. It depicts a woman hunched over in despair on the edge of a pool of water. The
scene takes place at nighttime and the young woman wears a white dress, altogether
looking rather neo-classical in attitude. Adams points out that these were all common
elements of Sentimental illustration during the 1790'S.163
Henry Howard (b. 1769) exhibited twenty-four mythologically related subjects
taken from Milton's works. At least two of these subjects were taken from Comus: The
Gardens ofHesperus and Sabrina. 164 William Hilton exhibited Comus with the Lady in
the Enchanted Chair at the Royal Academy in 1823. In a folder housed at the British
Museum, are several drawings that may also have been related to Comus. 165 William
161 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 120.
162 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 139. There is one set in the Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San
Marino, California and another in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
163 Eric Adams, Francis Danby: Varieties ofPoetic Landscape (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973),
19.
164 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 200. These works were exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British
Institution between 1795 and 1846.
165 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 203.
82
Etty painted a few scenes from Comus during the 1830s and 1840s.166 He also was
chosen in 1841 to judge a competition established to choose artists to paint multiple
scenes at the new Houses of Parliament. Prior to this project though, artists were
commissioned to paint lunette scenes in the Buckingham Palace Garden Pavilion (taken
down in 1928). In the central room of the pavilion the theme was Comus. Etty was
commissioned to paint a fresco here but was unsuccessful. It was replaced with William
Dyce's The Bridgewater Family Re-united and Charles Eastlake, Edwin Landseer, C.R.
Leslie, Daniel Maclise, Sir William Ross, Clarkson Stanfield, and Thomas Uwins were
commissioned to paint the other seven lunettes. 167
Since 1785, The Lady in Milton's Comus has been exhibited at the Liverpool Art
Club in 1881, at Derby in 1934, at the Tate in 1959, the Royal Academy in 1962, and in
1990 at the Tate Gallery, London, the Grand Palais, Paris, and the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York. Today it resides at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
Throughout his life Wright continually experimented with various gemes of
painting and continually explored a variety of lighting effects and modifications to
brushwork and selection of pigments to improve upon his style. His themes and topics
166 Pointon, Milton and English Art, xxvi. 'The Gardens of Hesperus' from the end of Comus was one of
them.
167 Pointon, Milton and English Art, 208-217. During the twentieth century: 1906 Jessie M. King provided
Illustrations to Comus published in Photogravure; 1921 Comus published by Doubleday Page with
illustrations by Arthur Rackham; Comus illustrated by Edmund Dulac (1920s-1930s?); 1937 Nonesuch
published Comus with colored lino-cuts by Mildred Farrar. 245-246.
83
varied widely and reflected his personal interests in a multiplicity of ideas and current
intellectual trends. 168
The span of Wright's career took him from a period in the 1760's when England
experienced a general optimism about enlightened culture and its possibilities through the
American Revolution and up to the 1790's when France, a country espousing
Enlightenment ideals was going through the French Revolution. Joseph Wright died on
August 29, 1797. During his lifetime, the modern world was taking shape, and Wright's
artwork did not escape this matrix. His work is infused with an exploration of ideas,
knowledge, polite society and provincial values.
168 Daniels, Joseph Wright, 10-11.
84
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ashfield, Andrew, and Peter de Bolla. The sublime: a reader in British eighteenth-
century aesthetic theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Barker-Benfield, G.J. The Culture ofSensibility: Sex and Society in Eighteenth-Century
Britain. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1992.
Bemrose, William. The Life and Works ofJoseph Wright, A.R.A., Commonly Called
"Wright ofDerby. )) London: Bemrose and Sons, 1885.
Bermingham, Ann. "Gainsborough's Cottage Door. Sensation and Sensibility." In
Sensation and Sensibility: Viewing Gainsborough's Cottage Door. Edited by Ann
Bermingham. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
Boorstin, Daniel J. The Discoverers. New York: Random House, 1983.
Brooks, Chris. The Gothic Revival. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1999.
Brown, Cedric. "Milton's Ludlow Masque." In The Cambridge Companion to Milton. 2nd
ed. Edited by Dennis Danielson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Burke, Edmund. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin ofour Ideas ofthe Sublime and
Beautiful. Menston, England: The ScolaI' Press Limited, 1970.
Cozens-Hardy, Basil, ed. The Diary ofSylas Neville 1767-1788. London: Oxford
Universtiy Press, 1950.
Daniels, Stephen. Joseph Wright. London: Tate Gallery Publishing Ltd., 1999.
Davis, Terrence. The Gothick Taste. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press,
1975.
Dobranski, Stephen B. "Milton's Social Life." In The Cambridge Companion to Milton.
2nd ed. Edited by Dennis Danielson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1989.
Egerton, Judy. Wright ofDerby. London: Tate Gallery Publications, 1990.
Garlick, Kenneth, and Angus Macintyre, eds. The Diary ofJoseph Farington, Vol. I July
1793 - December 1794. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1978.
85
Garlick, Kenneth, and Angus Macintyre, eds. The Diary ofJoseph Farington, Vol.lII Sept
1796 - December 1798. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1978.
Graham-Dixon, Andrew. A History ofBritish Art. Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1999.
Hamlyn, Robin, and Michael Phillips. William Blake. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.,
Publishers, 2000.
Hipple, Jr., Walter John. The Beautiful, The Sublime, & The Picturesque in Eighteenth-
Century British Aesthetic Theory. Carbondale: The Southern Illinois University
Press, 1957.
Hodgson, J.E., and Fred. A. Eaton. The Royal Academy and its Members. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905.
Hussey, Christopher. The Picturesque: Studies in a Point ofView. London: Putnam,
1927.
Jack, Ian, and Tim Parnell, eds. Laurence Sterne: A Sentimental Journey and Other
Writings. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2003.
Lewis, Michael J. The Gothic Revival. London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 2002.
Macaulay, James. The Gothic Revival: 1745-1845. London: Blackie and Son Limited, 1
975.
Myrone, Martin. Henry Fuseli. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001.
Myrone, Martin. Bodybuilding: Reforming Masculinities in British Art 1750-1810. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
Nicolson, Benedict. "Two Companion Pieces by Wright of Derby." Burlington Magazine
708 (1962): 113-117.
Nicolson, Benedict. Joseph Wright ofDerby: Painter ofLight. 2 Vols. New York:
Pantheon Books, 1968.
Pasquin, Anthony. The Royal Academicians. A Farce. London: Denew and Grant, 1786.
Pasquin, Anthony. Memoirs ofthe Royal Academicians,' Being an Attempt to Improve the
National Taste. London: H.D. Symonds, 1796.
86
Pointon, Marcia. Milton and English Art. Great Britain: Manchester University Press,
1970.
Pressly, Nancy L. The Fuseli Circle in Rome: Early Romantic Art ofthe 1770s. New
Haven: Yale Center for British Art, 1979.
Redgrave, Samuel and Richard. A Century ofBritish Painters. London: Phaidon Press
Ltd., 1947.
Reiman, Donald H. Introduction to Ode to Mr. Wright and Other Poems, by William
Hayley. New York, 1978.
Smith, S.C. Kaines, and H. Cheney Bemrose. Wright ofDerby. New York: Frederick A.
Stokes Company, 1922.
Solkin, David. Paintingfor Money. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
Tomory, Peter. The Life and Art ofHenry Fuseli. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972.
Vaughan, William. Romanticism and Art. London: Thames and Hudson, 2003.
Walpole, Horace. Anecdotes ofPainting in England 1760-1795. Edited by F.W. Hilles
and Philip Daghlian. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1937.
Waterhouse, Ellis. Painting in Britain: 1530-1790. New York: Penguin Books, 1978.
Whitley, William T. Artists and Their Friends in England, 1700-1799. 2 Vols. London:
Benjamin Blom, Inc., 1928.
Wilton, Andrew. Five Centuries ofBritish Painting: From Holbein to Hodgkin. London:
Thames and Hudson, 2001.