An ink drawing showing a figure kneeling with hands folded in prayer.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The ink drawing depicts a figure in an interior space, wearing a large fur-trimmed robe with a floral pattern, kneeling on one knee with hands folded in prayer. In front of them is a stack of books with gilded spines, upon which sit various objects including a plumed mask and a tassel. Smoke appears to be rising from the top of the stack. In front of the books is a very tall and ornate candlestick. Behind the figure is a table with delicate curved legs, holding a candelabra and what looks like an ornamental platter. In the background is a large tapestry depicting a landscape with trees, mountains, and various architectural structures

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1986.677
People
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley, British (Brighton, England 1872 - 1898 Menton, France)
Title
The Baron's Prayer
Other Titles
Series/Book Title: The Rape of the Lock
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1896
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/295100

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black ink and graphite on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
25.7 x 17.5 cm (10 1/8 x 6 7/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Leonard Smithers, sold; to Laurence Hodson, by 1904, sold 1907; to Herbert Pollitt, sold 1920; to Paul J. Sachs, sold; to [Scott & Fowles, New York] sold January 10, 1921; to Scofield Thayer, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1986

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Zatlin 980

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Scofield Thayer
Accession Year
1986
Object Number
1986.677
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Blake to Beardsley: A Century of English Illustrators, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1944), no. 4
  • Linda Gertner Zatlin, Aubrey Beardsley and Victorian Sexual Politics, The Clarendon Press (Oxford, England, 1990), p. 50, fig. 18
  • Peter Nørgaard Larsen, Symbolism in Danish and European Painting 1870-1910, exh. cat., Statens Museum for Kunst (Copenhagen, 2000), pp. 182-183, fig. 6
  • James Dempsey, The Tortured Life of Scofield Thayer, University Press of Florida (Gainesville, FL, 2014), pp. 58, 186
  • Linda Gertner Zatlin, Aubrey Beardsley: A Catalogue Raisonné, Yale University Press (U.S.) (New Haven and London, 2016), vol. 2, no. 980, pp. 216-218, repr. p. 217
  • Stephen Calloway and Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, ed., Aubrey Beardsley, exh. cat., Tate Publishing (London, 2020), checklist no. 167, repr. p. 133

Exhibition History

  • Blake to Beardsley: A Century of English Illustrators, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 06/01/1944 - 06/30/1944
  • 32Q: 2100 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/17/2016 - 11/01/2017
  • Aubrey Beardsley, Tate Britain, London, 03/04/2020 - 09/20/2020; Musée d'Orsay, 10/12/2020 - 01/10/2021

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu