The Lesson, or 'Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined' thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Paintings, Room 82, The Edwin and Susan Davies Galleries

The Lesson, or 'Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined'

Oil Painting
ca. 1850 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

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.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • The Lesson, or 'Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined' (popular title)
  • The Mother Teaching Her Son (Pope, 'Moral Essays') (generic title)
Materials and techniques
oil on panel
Brief description
Oil painting entitled 'The Lesson, or "Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined"' by William Mulready. Great Britain, ca. 1850s.
Physical description
Oil on panel depicting a lesson, or a mother teaching her son
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 44.1cm
  • Estimate width: 34cm
Dimensions taken from Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990
Style
Credit line
Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857
Object history
Given by John Sheepshanks, 1861
Subjects depicted
Literary referenceAlexander Pope's Moral Essays
Summary
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.
Bibliographic reference
Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990, p. 211
Collection
Accession number
FA.236[O]

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Record createdMay 8, 2003
Record URL
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