John Singleton Copley, The Red Cross Knight, 1793

From the National Gallery of Art:

This idyllic scene illustrates an episode from Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene, published in 1590. The lengthy Elizabethan poem concerns a Christian soldier’s search for Truth. Early in his quest, the knight encounters two lovely personifications of virtue. Faith, gowned in purest white and surrounded by a halo of divine light, holds a chalice with a serpent she need not fear. Hope, garbed in heavenly blue, carries a small anchor that recalls the biblical mention of hope “as an anchor of the soul.” To quote Spenser, the Red Cross Knight himself wears “on his brest a bloudie Crosse.”

The models were the artist’s own handsome children, now seventeen years older than when they posed for The Copley Family. John, the boy hugging his mother in that painting, is the Red Cross Knight. Elizabeth, the daughter standing in the center of the family portrait, is Faith, and Mary, the infant on the sofa, is Hope. The Red Cross Knight, Copley’s only painting inspired by literature, was shown at the Royal Academy in 1793.

Posted on July 7 2012, with 121 Notes

1. colorsanguigno reblogged this from cavetocanvas
2. goatymilky reblogged this from cavetocanvas
3. mysecretlights reblogged this from cavetocanvas
4. the-paintrist likes this
5. hippygirl82 reblogged this from ephesians612
6. bellewithatwist reblogged this from themagicfarawayttree
7. moltenrock likes this
8. putvoina likes this
9. frissinmyhair reblogged this from themagicfarawayttree
10. paxtonfearless reblogged this from jaded-mandarin
11. paxtonfearless likes this
12. livewhereyoufeartolive likes this
13. queen--butterfly likes this
14. themagicfarawayttree reblogged this from jaded-mandarin
15. thegirlwhowasnotthere reblogged this from jaded-mandarin
16. catherinejeanette likes this
17. edwarddiggory likes this
18. carmidoll likes this
19. jaded-mandarin reblogged this from cavetocanvas
20. jaded-mandarin likes this
21. silentj19 likes this
22. ipalindromei reblogged this from cavetocanvas
23. sowolu reblogged this from cavetocanvas
24. arcanan reblogged this from cavetocanvas
25. hayyar reblogged this from duhovi
26. madhatterunderwater likes this
27. margerinestcroix reblogged this from cavetocanvas
28. sweetenochian reblogged this from cavetocanvas
29. yenigarcia likes this
30. brightonoff likes this
31. celestes-shenanigans reblogged this from cavetocanvas
32. rekidetiar reblogged this from cavetocanvas
33. gx1974 reblogged this from cavetocanvas
34. gx1974 likes this
35. execcex likes this
36. wojkacatwalk likes this
37. thefairandfascinatingmissrosa reblogged this from luisabellomy
38. bonedrone reblogged this from cavetocanvas
39. madeleine-willis reblogged this from cavetocanvas
40. visualspiration reblogged this from cavetocanvas
41. imaginarymary likes this
42. lf9 likes this
43. eliassantis likes this
44. missimo8 likes this
45. cogitoergosum-motherfucker reblogged this from cavetocanvas
46. animeandfilmotaku reblogged this from cavetocanvas
47. illuminatesthefollyofthedancers reblogged this from cavetocanvas
48. misspiggybundy likes this
49. wiccansinlove reblogged this from cavetocanvas
50. eroticpoems likes this
51. Show more notesLoading...