Gratuitous Bertie Dog Picture: The Lamb and the Ham

"Yes, little girl.  Ten sandwiches would be a good start."

Image:  The Wolf and the Lamb, Creator: William Mulready (1786-1863) (artist), Creation Date: c. 1819-20, Materials: Oil on panel, Acquirer: George IV, King of the United Kingdom (1762-1830), when King of the United Kingdom (1820-30), Provenance: Purchased by George IV for 200 guineas in 1821.

Crown Copyright, The Royal Collection via The Royal Collection Trust. The original image is courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

To learn more about this work by William Mulready, visit the entry for this painting in the online catalog of the Royal Collection Trust.

You, too, could have a cup of tea with Bertie. Or, you could wear his picture proudly. Visit our online store to see our range of Gratuitous Bertie Dog products.

Print of the Day: Blackheath Park, 1852

Click image to enlarge.Blackheath Park
William Mulready, 1852
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Chances are, you don’t spend as much time poking around the collections of the V&A as I do. Maybe you do. If you were to do so, you’d notice that a good many of the paintings were given to the Victoria & Albert Museum by one John Sheepshanks. Sheepshanks was a hugely prolific collector of art and we owe him a debt of gratitude for his dogged dedication to preserving these masterpieces.

Sheepshanks, being a patron of the arts, enjoyed friendships with many of the greatest artists of the Victorian era. Among them was the Irish-born William Mulready (1786-1863).

Mulready created this piece in 1852, especially for Sheepshanks. The painting depicts the view across the park from the gate of John Sheepshank’s commodious home in Blackheath, South London. Sheepshanks loved this view of fields, trees and water and was especially pleased with the painting which a critic described as “a refreshing green bit of nature.”

Print of the Day: Blackheath Park, 1852

Click image to enlarge.Blackheath Park
William Mulready, 1852
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Chances are, you don’t spend as much time poking around the collections of the V&A as I do. Maybe you do. If you were to do so, you’d notice that a good many of the paintings were given to the Victoria & Albert Museum by one John Sheepshanks. Sheepshanks was a hugely prolific collector of art and we owe him a debt of gratitude for his dogged dedication to preserving these masterpieces.

Sheepshanks, being a patron of the arts, enjoyed friendships with many of the greatest artists of the Victorian era. Among them was the Irish-born William Mulready (1786-1863).

Mulready created this piece in 1852, especially for Sheepshanks. The painting depicts the view across the park from the gate of John Sheepshank’s commodious home in Blackheath, South London. Sheepshanks loved this view of fields, trees and water and was especially pleased with the painting which a critic described as “a refreshing green bit of nature.”

Painting of the Day: The Lesson, or 'Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined

The Lesson
William Mulready, 1859
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The quotation which was exhibited with this painting by William Mulready (RA, 1786-1862) comes from Alexander Pope's Moral Essays, which was published in the period 1731-1735:

'Tis education forms the common mind,
Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined.

With this work, Mulready emphasizes the nurturing role of a mother in a composition that owes a lot to the traditional theme of the Madonna and Child.  It was painted in 1859.