Halt by the Jordan
Oil Painting
1840 (painted), 1849 (retouched)
1840 (painted), 1849 (retouched)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
John Linnell (1792-1882) entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1805, where he became the pupil of John Varley (1778-1842). Despite an early interest in landscape painting, financial pressures forced him to focus on portraiture. By 1851, when he settled at Redhill, Surrey, Linnell was financially secure enough to turn again to landscape. He had a long and prolific career, exhibiting 176 works at the Royal Academy, 91 at the British Institute and 52 watercolours at the Old Watercolour Society.
Linnell entered the Baptist Church in 1811-12 and retained strong religious views for the rest of his life. Like Samuel Palmer (1805-1881), with whom he was friends until the former married his daughter in 1837, Linnell believed that landscape painting could be a form of religious art. Special photography reveals the presence of a baptising figure standing in the water in this particular painting, but the figure is no longer evident to the naked eye. It therefore seems likely that the image was originally intended to depict the Baptism of the people of Judah (New Testament, Matthew chapter 2, verses 5 and 6; Mark chapter 1, verse 5).
Linnell entered the Baptist Church in 1811-12 and retained strong religious views for the rest of his life. Like Samuel Palmer (1805-1881), with whom he was friends until the former married his daughter in 1837, Linnell believed that landscape painting could be a form of religious art. Special photography reveals the presence of a baptising figure standing in the water in this particular painting, but the figure is no longer evident to the naked eye. It therefore seems likely that the image was originally intended to depict the Baptism of the people of Judah (New Testament, Matthew chapter 2, verses 5 and 6; Mark chapter 1, verse 5).
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Halt by the Jordan |
| Materials and techniques | Oil on canvas |
| Brief description | Oil painting on canvas, 'Halt by the Jordan', John Linnell, 1840 |
| Physical description | Lush mountainous landscape to the left and right of the image slopes down to a river running through the middle. A tall tree rises from the right-hand bank. The left bank is flat and clear of vegetation. A fragmented group of travellers has stopped there. A large number of the group busy themselves with goods, camels, and the white horses harnessed to a stationary open-topped carriage which incorporates a large parasol. A little to the right of this main group is another group of figures gathered at the water’s edge – one astride a horse, others seated or kneeling. A muscular black man wearing a turban and draped in luxurious cloth stands at the far right of this group at the bottom centre of the over-all image. He looks out across the water. A third grouping, comprising two men, is located at the bottom left corner of the image, in front of the first group and to the left of the second. Both men are seated and appear to be deep in discussion. One is dressed completely in white and has long white hair. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | J. Linnell F. 1840 Ret. 49 (painting signed and dated bottom centre) |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by Henry Spencer Ashbee |
| Object history | Bequeathed by Henry Spencer Ashbee, 1900 |
| Production | attribution taken from Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990 |
| Subject depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | John Linnell (1792-1882) entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1805, where he became the pupil of John Varley (1778-1842). Despite an early interest in landscape painting, financial pressures forced him to focus on portraiture. By 1851, when he settled at Redhill, Surrey, Linnell was financially secure enough to turn again to landscape. He had a long and prolific career, exhibiting 176 works at the Royal Academy, 91 at the British Institute and 52 watercolours at the Old Watercolour Society. Linnell entered the Baptist Church in 1811-12 and retained strong religious views for the rest of his life. Like Samuel Palmer (1805-1881), with whom he was friends until the former married his daughter in 1837, Linnell believed that landscape painting could be a form of religious art. Special photography reveals the presence of a baptising figure standing in the water in this particular painting, but the figure is no longer evident to the naked eye. It therefore seems likely that the image was originally intended to depict the Baptism of the people of Judah (New Testament, Matthew chapter 2, verses 5 and 6; Mark chapter 1, verse 5). |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1845-1900 |
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| Record created | February 13, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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