Victorian Mourning Portrait of a Boy c1885

£1,750.00

Perspective is everything….beauty can be found in death.

Victorian Death Portrait of a Boy c1885
108cm wide, 142cm tall & 12cm deep
Price includes FREE UK Delivery

A a big thank you to the person who brough this to our attention and suggested we do some research into it - you were spot on!

We listed this striking painting on our Facebook in August and understandably believed it to be of Cupid…we were wrong. Its easy to see now – for instance cupid is depicted as a cherub or much younger child and with wings; this child doesn’t have any.

So, what is it? A Death Portrait.

We believe it is a Victorian painting to memorialise a child who has passed away. It was quite common in Victorian era. Victorian nurseries were plagued by measles, diphtheria, scarlet fever, rubella - all of which could be fatal.  

These portraits were keepsakes that captured the deceased in a pose with living family members, with a favorite toy, or braced on furniture. It was a chance to have a permanent likeness of a beloved child taken.

Some examples include painting and photographs such as Memorial to Daniel Kuhn by Sarah Kuhn, Sacred to the Memory of Polly Shearer, Portrait of a Baby Girl, Joseph Fairfax Lapsley by George Cooke, and Portrait of a young girl by Oliver Tarbell Eddy

It explains the slightly eerie feel to the painting that we all have when looking at it. But, like everything in life, perspective gives context and context gives understanding. This death portrait is of a young child with his favourite toy – a loving memorial by grieving parents who didn’t want to forget him.

Whilst we don’t have any idea who the young boy is or who the family were, knowing what it is and why it is, gives the painting gravitas and meaning.

I was never a fan of it to be honest, but now – I adore it.

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Perspective is everything….beauty can be found in death.

Victorian Death Portrait of a Boy c1885
108cm wide, 142cm tall & 12cm deep
Price includes FREE UK Delivery

A a big thank you to the person who brough this to our attention and suggested we do some research into it - you were spot on!

We listed this striking painting on our Facebook in August and understandably believed it to be of Cupid…we were wrong. Its easy to see now – for instance cupid is depicted as a cherub or much younger child and with wings; this child doesn’t have any.

So, what is it? A Death Portrait.

We believe it is a Victorian painting to memorialise a child who has passed away. It was quite common in Victorian era. Victorian nurseries were plagued by measles, diphtheria, scarlet fever, rubella - all of which could be fatal.  

These portraits were keepsakes that captured the deceased in a pose with living family members, with a favorite toy, or braced on furniture. It was a chance to have a permanent likeness of a beloved child taken.

Some examples include painting and photographs such as Memorial to Daniel Kuhn by Sarah Kuhn, Sacred to the Memory of Polly Shearer, Portrait of a Baby Girl, Joseph Fairfax Lapsley by George Cooke, and Portrait of a young girl by Oliver Tarbell Eddy

It explains the slightly eerie feel to the painting that we all have when looking at it. But, like everything in life, perspective gives context and context gives understanding. This death portrait is of a young child with his favourite toy – a loving memorial by grieving parents who didn’t want to forget him.

Whilst we don’t have any idea who the young boy is or who the family were, knowing what it is and why it is, gives the painting gravitas and meaning.

I was never a fan of it to be honest, but now – I adore it.

Perspective is everything….beauty can be found in death.

Victorian Death Portrait of a Boy c1885
108cm wide, 142cm tall & 12cm deep
Price includes FREE UK Delivery

A a big thank you to the person who brough this to our attention and suggested we do some research into it - you were spot on!

We listed this striking painting on our Facebook in August and understandably believed it to be of Cupid…we were wrong. Its easy to see now – for instance cupid is depicted as a cherub or much younger child and with wings; this child doesn’t have any.

So, what is it? A Death Portrait.

We believe it is a Victorian painting to memorialise a child who has passed away. It was quite common in Victorian era. Victorian nurseries were plagued by measles, diphtheria, scarlet fever, rubella - all of which could be fatal.  

These portraits were keepsakes that captured the deceased in a pose with living family members, with a favorite toy, or braced on furniture. It was a chance to have a permanent likeness of a beloved child taken.

Some examples include painting and photographs such as Memorial to Daniel Kuhn by Sarah Kuhn, Sacred to the Memory of Polly Shearer, Portrait of a Baby Girl, Joseph Fairfax Lapsley by George Cooke, and Portrait of a young girl by Oliver Tarbell Eddy

It explains the slightly eerie feel to the painting that we all have when looking at it. But, like everything in life, perspective gives context and context gives understanding. This death portrait is of a young child with his favourite toy – a loving memorial by grieving parents who didn’t want to forget him.

Whilst we don’t have any idea who the young boy is or who the family were, knowing what it is and why it is, gives the painting gravitas and meaning.

I was never a fan of it to be honest, but now – I adore it.