Doe and Hope

Description

The very large pair of line-engravings of a military theme, in their original gilt and gesso frames with nineteenth century glass, published by The Art Union in 1876, after the 1868 original wall paintings by Daniel Maclise in the Royal Gallery at the Palace of Westminster.

The engravings are in very decorative and unrestored condition and are totally original. There is soiling and foxing but we love their overall feel. They have not been meddled with in any way shape or form. The frames and glazing are both original to the engravings and are beautifully decayed but still in good structural order. There is one crack to the lower right corner of one of the pieces of glass.

These line engravings were published by The Art Union in 1876 after the 1868 original wall painting by Daniel Maclise in the Royal Gallery at the Palace of Westminster. Wellington and Blucher mounted on horses, with cavalry behind them, shake hands in front of ruined building surrounded by numerous mounted and dismounted soldiers and bandsman dead and wounded lying in the foreground. The French army is seen in pursuit along the road behind. A somewhat fanciful rendering of one of the great melodramatic moments in history.

Late in the evening on the day of the battle of Waterloo (Sunday, June 18th. 1815) Wellington and Blücher met on horseback outside the somewhat battered but aptly named La Belle Alliance inn where they briefly shook hands and congratulated each other on their victory. "Quelle affaire!" the elderly Prussian Marshal exclaimed, - Wellington said afterwards that was all the French he knew. Blücher also suggested La Belle Alliance would be a good name for the battle, but the Duke made no reply.
Following the meeting of the victorious leaders, during the rest of the night the Prussians pursued the remnants of the routed French army, from the inn, down the road toward France by which they had come.

Daniel Maclise, R.A. (1806 -1870) was an Irish historical painter whose fame rests chiefly on a series of lithograph portraits of contemporary celebrities and on two vast frescoes that he painted in the Royal Gallery in the House of Lords, of which this is a copy of one.

Scale, originality, texture, grandeur these really must be seen - stunning.