Painting of the Day: The Rose, 1832

The Rose she loves the Mother blesses
The Rose she to her bosom presses
A fairer, sweeter, happier thing
Than that which shines the Queen of Spring.

Painted by Edmond Thomas Parris (1793-1873) in 1832, this sentimental oil is typical of the artist’s so-called “fancy” portraits.  These paintings were designed for reproduction in the form of  color lithographs as an illustration to a verse. This painting, “The Rose,” was published as “The Rose of the Boudoir” with the short, anonymous, poem which is duplicated above. 

The Rose
Edmond Thomas Parris, 1832
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Though the verse is “anonymous,” it is similar in form and content to the poetry of Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington,  The countess edited “The Keepsake” (1841-50), and her poems, “Gems of Beauty,” were published in 1836 with 12 engraved plates based on designs by Parris.