Entrance to the crypt, Roslin Chapel

Date

1843 (painted)

Artist/maker

David Roberts, born 1796 - died 1864 (painter (artist))

Materials and Techniques

Oil on panel

Marks and inscriptions

'David Roberts RA 1843'

Dimensions

Height: 71.6 cm estimate, Width: 62.1 cm estimate

Object history note

Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857

Descriptive line

Oil painting entitled 'Entrance to the Crypt, Roslin Chapel' by David Roberts. Great Britain, 1843.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990, p. 251
This is the full text of the calalogue entry:

"ROBERTS, David, RA (1796-1864)
Born Stockbridge, near Edinburgh, 24 October 1796, the son of a shoemaker. Apprenticed to a house painter from about 1808-15, and also worked as a theatrical scenery painter. Moved to London 1822; worked at Theatre Royal and Covent Garden. Achieved a high reputation as a painter in oils and watercolours, mainly of architectural views. Exhibited 101 works at the RA between 1826 and 1864, 32 at the BI 1825-59, and 50 at the SBA 1824-36 (elected Member 1825, President 1830). Elected ARA 1838, RA 1841. Travelled frequently and extensively; from his first visit to France 1824, he toured in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Near East. Published lithographic reproductions of his drawings, notably 'Picturesque Sketches in Spain' (1837) and 'The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia' (1842-9). Died 25 November 1864; his studio sale was at Christie's 13-20 May 1865, and that of his son-in-law Henry Bicknell 7-9 April 1881.
LIT: J Ballantine The Life of David Roberts, RA 1866; H Guiterman (et al) David Roberts; Artist Adventurer Scottish Arts Council exhibition catalogue 1981; H Guiterman and B Llewellyn David Roberts Barbican Art Gallery exhibition catalogue 1986

Entrance to the Crypt, Roslin Chapel
FA174 Neg 57004
Panel, 71.6 X 62.1 cm (30 X 24½ ins)
Signed and dated (indistinctly) 'David Roberts RA 1843' diagonally bl
Sheepshanks Gift 1857

Exhibited at the RA in 1843. The artist was in Edinburgh in 1842 for a public dinner given in his honour on 19 October. Roslin (or Rosslyn), near Edinburgh, was one of Roberts's favourite places: a watercolour study of the chapel is dated 11 October 1842 and part of it was used for the present oil (NGS). There are several oils of the subject recorded, and many watercolours, one also in the V&A collections signed and dated 1830 (1046-1873).
Roslin Chapel, celebrated for its sculpture and elaborate decorative carving, was founded in 1446; it was only partly completed, damaged in 1668, and restored in 1862.
The Art Union noted it as:
One of the class of pictures called interiors, abounding with stone carving of a rich and florid character. The work is remarkable for the softness and transparency of its shadows, and the power displayed in painting the cross lights. The subject is bisected by a heavy column, a little beyond which are two figures who do not support the feelings generated by such work.

The figures presumably serve to draw attention to the famous Prentice Pillar; its unusual design of four strips of foliage spiralling upwards, with a base of entwined serpents, is supposed (according to an unlikely legend) to have resulted in the murder of the apprentice who carved it while his master mason was absent.

EXH: RA 1843 (78); BI 1844 (12); RSA 1845 (37); International Exhibition Dublin 1865 (189); David Roberts: Artist Adventurer Scottish Arts Council 1981-2 (44)

LIT: Art Union 1843, p163

Ronald Parkinson."
Vikutoria & Arub?to Bijutsukan-z? : eikoku romanshugi kaigaten = The Romantic tradition in British painting, 1800-1950 : masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum / selected by Mark Evans [Japan : Brain Trust], 2002. 185 p. : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 30 cm.

Exhibition History

The Romantic Tradition in British Painting 1800-1950: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Prefectural Museum of Art, Hyogo, Kobe, Japan 28/01/2003-06/04/2003)
The Romantic Tradition in British Painting 1800-1950: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Koriyama City Museum of Art 22/11/2002-27/12/2002)
The Romantic Tradition in British Painting 1800-1950: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Matsuzakaya Museum, Nagoya, Japan 19/10/2002-11/11/2002)
The Romantic Tradition in British Painting 1800-1950: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan 24/08/2002-06/10/2002)

Labels and date

49. David Roberts (1796-1864)
Entrance to the Crypt, Roslin Chapel 1843.
Oil on panel, 71.6 x 62.1 cm (30 x 24½ ins)

Roslin Chapel, near Edinburgh, celebrated for its sculpture and elaborate decorative carving, was founded in 1446; it was only partly completed, damaged in 1668, and restored in 1862. Himself a Scotsman, Roberts particularly loved this building and made several sketches of it. He also sought to prevent it from being over-restored by an unsympathetic architect. The intricately carved `Prentice Pillar' (the twisted column in front of the kneeling figure) was the source of a lurid legend: It was said that an apprentice carved it while his master was absent. When the master mason returned he is said to have murdered the apprentice in a fit of jealously, as he knew that he could no longer match the skill of the young man. The ancient legend fitted well with the romantic gloom of an elaborately decorated Gothic interior, a mixture of horror and beauty.

Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857 (FA 174)
P.251 [2002]

Materials

Oil paint; Panel

Techniques

Oil painting

Subjects depicted

Chapel

Categories

Paintings

Collection code

PDP