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Ariel
Severn, Joseph, born 1793 - died 1879 - Enlarge image
Ariel
- Object:
Oil painting
- Place of origin:
Rome (painted)
- Date:
1826 (painted)
- Artist/Maker:
Severn, Joseph, born 1793 - died 1879 (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
oil on millboard backed with canvas
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend
- Museum number:
1410-1869
- Gallery location:
Paintings, Room 82, The Edwin and Susan Davies Galleries, case West Wall
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).
