Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level H , Case WD, Shelf 98

Painted Roundel

Oil Painting
1870-71 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Decorative circular oil painting from a set of 36 roundels, originally exhibited in the V&A between 1871 and 1913. The roundels were positioned in the spandrels of the arches in Rooms 101 to 106. Each roundel depicts a single cupid or nude boy, with varying accessories, set against a crimson background. A nude, fair-haired boy with back turned sideways, stands poised on his right foot, whilst lifting his left; he has an outstrecthed left hand holding a posy of white lilies, whilst his right hand has disappeared almost behind his left cheek, as if in a swinging movement. Rythmic movement is skillfully suggested by the lines of the composition; note that the left arm forms one line with the right arms, and the left leg is parallel to that line.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • Painted Roundel (generic title)
  • Nude boy with a posy of lilies (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Oil on canvas
Brief description
Decorative circular oil painting depicting a nude youth with a posy of lilies, from a set of 36 roundels once exhibited on the west wall of Rooms 101-103 and the east wall of Rooms 104-106, painted by Forster and Archer. Great Britain, 1870-71.
Physical description
Decorative circular oil painting from a set of 36 roundels, originally exhibited in the V&A between 1871 and 1913. The roundels were positioned in the spandrels of the arches in Rooms 101 to 106. Each roundel depicts a single cupid or nude boy, with varying accessories, set against a crimson background. A nude, fair-haired boy with back turned sideways, stands poised on his right foot, whilst lifting his left; he has an outstrecthed left hand holding a posy of white lilies, whilst his right hand has disappeared almost behind his left cheek, as if in a swinging movement. Rythmic movement is skillfully suggested by the lines of the composition; note that the left arm forms one line with the right arms, and the left leg is parallel to that line.
Dimensions
  • Average size diameter: 16in
Dimensions taken from departmental notes
Style
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic reference
Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1937, London: Board of Education, 1938.
Collection
Accession number
P.54-1937

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Record createdApril 24, 2012
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