Antique Print Garden of Hesperides c.1895
For weekly notifications of new arrivals in your categories of interest please click HERE.
This is a beautiful print of the famous painting 'Garden of Hesperides' by Lord Fredric Leighton, painted in 1892.
The Garden of the Hesperides' depicts the three daughters of Hesperus or the God of Evening, the Hesperides, resting.
The picture draws its theme from the ancient myth in which the Hesperides were assigned by the Goddess Hera to guard the golden apples which she had been given on her wedding to Zeus by Earth.
The theft of the apples is well known as one of the Hercules' Ten Labours. In the painting, the Hesperides sing to the sleeping dragon in the garden at the end of the world where the apples were kept.
The lavish colours of the painting and the beauty of the scene make it extremely difficult to predict the invasion of Hercules, the slaying of the dragon and theft of the apples.
Leighton portrayed the nymphs relaxing under an apple tree; one of them is playing a lyre, while the other two are surrounded by the snake's coils.
He replaced the dragon in the original myth with a serpent entwined around the tree and the body of the central figure. The inclusion of the serpent, the idyllic mood of the painting and the languor of the three female figures in the beautiful garden can be seen to represent eternal life before the fall from paradise.
It was common for Victorian artists to invest classical myths and stories with religious messages.
The print is presented in a simple wooden frame which compliments the print.
Lord Lever bought 'The Garden of the Hesperides' together with 'Daphnephoria' in 1913 from Christie's.
The painting can be found in the collection of Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool.Condition:
Good original & untouched - please refer to pictures.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 95 x Width 95 - Frame
Height 78 x Width 78 - Painting
Dimensions in inches:
Height 3 feet, 1 inch x Width 3 feet, 1 inch - Frame
Height 2 feet, 7 inches x Width 2 feet, 7 inches - Painting
The Garden of the Hesperides is Hera's orchard in the west, where either a single tree or a grove of immortality-giving golden apples grew. The apples were planted from the fruited branches that Gaia gave to Hera as a wedding gift when Hera accepted Zeus. The Hesperides were given the task of tending to the grove, but occasionally plucked from it themselves. Not trusting them, Hera also placed in the garden a never-sleeping, hundred-headed dragon named Ladon as an additional safeguard.
However, in the mythology surrounding the Judgement of Paris, the Goddess of Discord Eris managed to enter the garden, pluck a golden apple, inscribe it "To the most beautiful" and roll it into the wedding party (to which she had not been invited), in effect causing the Trojan Wars.
In later years it was thought that the "golden apples" might have actually been oranges, a fruit unknown to Europe and the Mediterranean before the Middle Ages. Under this assumption, the Greek botanical name chosen for all citrus species was Hesperidoeidē.
Angelica Kauffman, RA (1741 - 1807)
was a Swiss-born Austrian Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Though born as "Kauffmann", Kauffman is the preferred spelling of her name in English; it is the form she herself used most in signing her correspondence, documents and paintings.
While Kauffman produced many types of art, she identified herself primarily as a history painter, an unusual designation for a woman artist in the 18th century. History painting, was considered the most elite and lucrative category in academic painting during this time period. Under the direction of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Royal Academy made a strong effort to promote history painting to a native audience who were more interested in commissioning and buying portraits and landscapes.
Despite the popularity that Kauffman enjoyed in British society and her success as an artist, she was disappointed by the relative apathy that the British had towards history painting. Ultimately she left Britain for the continent, where history painting was better established, held in higher esteem and patronized.
The works of Angelica Kauffman have retained their reputation. By 1911, rooms decorated with her work were still to be seen in various quarters. At Hampton Court was a portrait of the duchess of Brunswick; in the National Portrait Gallery, a self-portrait. There were other pictures by her at Paris, at Dresden, in the Hermitage at St Petersburg, in the Alte Pinakothek atMunich, in Kadriorg Palace, Tallinn (Estonia).
Satinwood
is a hard and durable wood with a satinlike sheen, much used in cabinetmaking, especially in marquetry. It comes from two tropical trees of the family Rutaceae (rue family). East Indian or Ceylon satinwood is the yellowish or dark-brown heartwood of Chloroxylon swietenia.
The lustrous, fine-grained, usually figured wood is used for furniture, cabinetwork, veneers, and backs of brushes. West Indian satinwood, sometimes called yellow wood, is considered superior. It is the golden yellow, lustrous, even-grained wood found in the Florida Keys and the West Indies.
It has long been valued for furniture. It is also used for musical instruments, veneers, and other purposes. Satinwood is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Rutaceae.
Our reference: 05558
Please feel free to email or call us (+44 20 8809 9605) to arrange a viewing in our North London warehouse.
Shipping:
We ship worldwide and deliver to Mainland UK addresses free of charge.
A shipping cost to all other destinations must be requested prior to purchase.
To request a shipping quote for the items in your cart, please click HERE.
Delivery and return policy:
We require that someone be home on the agreed delivery day if applicable, otherwise a redelivery fee will apply.
In accordance with Distance Selling Regulations, we offer a 14-day money back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the item.
The item must be returned in its original packaging and condition.
Unless the item is not as described in a material way, the buyer is responsible for return shipping expenses.
Buyers are fully responsible for any customs duties or local taxes that may be incurred on items sent outside of the European Union.
