Ariel thumbnail 1
Ariel thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Paintings, Room 82, The Edwin and Susan Davies Galleries

Ariel

Oil Painting
1826 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Severn took the image from Shakespeare's play, The Tempest, where the mischievous sprite Ariel sings:

There I couch when owls do cry.
On a bat's back I do fly…

He was a close friend of the poet John Keats in Rome, where this work was painted. He exhibited several paintings of Ariel at the Royal Academy. There is another in the V&A collection (see 1416-1869).


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleAriel (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
oil on millboard backed with canvas
Brief description
Oil painting, 'Ariel', Joseph Severn, 1826
Physical description
Oil painting
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 24.7cm
  • Estimate width: 38.1cm
  • With frame weight: 3.5kg
  • Frame height: 40cm
  • Frame width: 52.1cm
  • Frame depth: 5.8cm (Note: Measured on wall in gallery.)
Dimensions taken from Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990
Style
Marks and inscriptions
'Severn/Rome 1826' (Signed and dated by the artist, lower left)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend
Object history
Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend, 1868
Subjects depicted
Literary referenceThe Tempest by William Shakespeare
Summary
Severn took the image from Shakespeare's play, The Tempest, where the mischievous sprite Ariel sings:

There I couch when owls do cry.
On a bat's back I do fly…

He was a close friend of the poet John Keats in Rome, where this work was painted. He exhibited several paintings of Ariel at the Royal Academy. There is another in the V&A collection (see 1416-1869).
Bibliographic reference
Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990, pp. 261-62
Collection
Accession number
1410-1869

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdMay 12, 2003
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest