How are you?
On every Thursday, I am
introducing the stories about various artists and their paintings with the
title “Interesting Art Stories”.
The 22nd story for this week is “Scotland
Forever!” by a British painter Elizabeth Thompson.
Elizabeth Thompson
“Scotland
Forever!” is an oil painting drawn by Elizabeth Thompson, called Lady Butler,
in 1881. It depicts the charge scene of the Royal Scots Greys, a British
cavalry regiment, charging with the British heavy cavalry at the Battle of
Waterloo in 1815. This painting has been reproduced many times and is
considered an iconic representation of the battle itself and, more generally,
of heroism.
Battle of Waterloo
When Butler visited the
Grosvenor Gallery in London, England, she saw the aesthetic paintings and
intensely disliked them. As a response for the paintings, she was inspired to
paint the charge of an army.
Entrance of the Grosvenor Gallery
After receiving acclaim for her earlier paintings,
“The Roll Call” in 1874 on the theme from the Crimean
War and the "Remnants of an Army" in 1879 on the retreat from Kabul
in 1842, she had developed a reputation for her military paintings.
Calling the Roll After An Engagement, Crimea, Elizabeth Thompson (1874)
The remnants of an army, Jellalabad, January 13, 1842, Elizabeth Thompson (1879)
Although Butler had never
seen an actual battle, she was permitted to watch the training of her husband's
regiment, positioning herself in front of charging horses in order to observe
their movements. However, in this painting, the Scots Greys seems to move
forward at a quick walk instead of charging at a gallop due to the broken
ground.
Cap badge of Royal Scots Greys
The horses that covered the painting have grey color, although it seems
that they had brown horses like the other heavy cavalry regiments at the Battle
of Waterloo and earlier battles, allegedly the regiment used grey horses until
mechanization. The name “greys” was actually derived from the grey uniforms
worn in the early 18th century.
The title of this painting
came from the battle cry of the Greys regiment "Now, my boys, Scotland,
forever!" as they charged. The painting was exhibited in 1881 at the
Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, England.
The facade of the Egyptian Hall (1815)
Tzar Nicholas II, the last
emperor of the Russian Empire, and Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last emperor of the
German Empire and King of Prussia, received copies of the painting. Then,
during World War I, both the British and the Germans used the image of this
painting as their propaganda material, while the Germans transformed the Scots
Greys into Prussian cavalry.
Nicholas II
Wilhelm II
In 1888, Colonel Thomas
Walter Harding donated this painting to Leeds Art Gallery in Leeds, West
Yorkshire, England. It was also used as an inspiration to depict the same
charge scene in the film “Waterloo”.
Leeds Art Gallery
Film Waterloo (1970)
Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment