The quotation is from Alexander Pope's Moral Essays, published in the period 1731-1735:
'Tis education forms the common mind,
Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined.
Mulready emphasises the nurturing role of a mother in a composition that echoes the traditional theme of the Madonna and Child.
Physical description
Oil on panel depicting a lesson, or a mother teaching her son
Place of Origin
Great Britain, United Kingdom (probably, painted)
Date
ca. 1850 (painted)
Artist/maker
Mulready, born 1786 - died 1863 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
oil on panel
Dimensions
Height: 44.1 cm estimate, Width: 34 cm estimate
Object history note
Given by John Sheepshanks, 1861
Descriptive line
Oil painting entitled 'The Lesson, or "Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined"' by William Mulready. Great Britain, ca. 1850s.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990, p. 211
The following is the full text of the entry:
"MULREADY, William, RA (1786-1863)
Born Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, 1 April (not 30 as is sometimes recorded) 1786, son of a leather breeches maker and amateur draughtsman. Moved to Dublin 1797, London about 1799; encouraged by the Scottish painter John Graham and the sculptor Joseph Banks, entered RA Schools 1800 (won silver medal for drawing 1806). Pupil and assistant of John Varley, whose sister Elizabeth (also an artist) he married 1803 (separated 1810). Exhibited 78 works at the RA between 1804 and 1862, and five at the BI 1808-9 and 1826. Wide range of subjects in early years, including history and portraits, but by 1815 almost exclusively domestic subjects of precise detail and brilliant colour, and with Wilkie the most popular and admired artist in the genre. He noted his own goals as 'Story, Character, Expression, Beauty'. Elected ARA 1815, RA 1816. Many book illustrations; accomplished draughtsman, particularly perhaps of academic nude studies. Designed first penny postage envelope 1840. Elected member of many distinguished institutions at home and abroad. Died 7 July 1863; his studio sale was at Christie's 28-30 April 1864. His four sons Paul Augustus, William junior (see entry below), Michael (see entry above) and John were all trained as artists. Much manuscript and graphic material in National Art Library and V&A collections, also Tate Gallery.
LIT: F G Stephens Memorials ofWilliam Mulready RA 1890; A Rorimer Drawings by William Mulready V&A exhibition catalogue 1972; K Heleniak William Mulready 1980; M Pointon Mulready V&A exhibition book and catalogue 1986. (The three last all have full bibliographies)
The most comprehensive recent catalogue raisonée of Mulready's works, arranged in chronological order, has been compiled by Kathryn Moore Heleniak, in her book William Mulready 1980, which provides the basis for the following entries. Her numbers have been quoted, and a brief resume given of her listing of alternative versions and related drawings. Further reference should be made to both her book and to Marcia Pointon's catalogue Mulready which accompanied the exhibition of 1986 held at the V&A, National Gallery, Dublin and Ulster Museum, Belfast; to Heleniak for more detailed comments on related works and documentation and Pointon for social commentary and aesthetic analysis.
The Lesson, or 'Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined'.
FA236 Neg 60365
Panel within oval frame, 44.1 × 34 cm (17 ½ × 13½ ins)
The quotation is from Pope, Moral Essays, Ep 1.150. Heleniak (171) notes 12 related drawings at the V&A and other now untraced studies.
The Examiner (1859, p277) wrote: 'Mr Mulready is a contributor of a delightful bit of colouring, a mother with a rather large boy on her knee in naked prayer. The art of the painter has disdained his nightclothes.'
Like several of Mulready's paintings this work deals with the early experiences on the formation of character. Pointon observes that: 'the pose is that of a Madonna and child and the background provides a carefully orchestrated series of images which reinforce analogies between plants and children . . . natural fecundity and motherhood'
EXH: RA 1859 (167); Society of Arts 1862 (298); William Mulready South Kensington Museum 1864 (100); Nottingham University, Victorian Painting 1959 (52); William Mulready V&A 1986 (113)
Ronald Parkinson"
Materials
Oil paint; Panel
Techniques
Oil painting
Subjects depicted
Child; Mother; Educating
Categories
Paintings
Collection code
PDP
