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

Autolycus

Oil Painting
ca. 1836 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Autolycus was a thief disguised as a pedlar who appears in Shakespeare's play A Winter's Tale. He is shown here selling cheap goods and sensational printed ballads to gullible country folk. Leslie based the background sky and the ash tree at the right on studies supplied by his friend, the landscape painter John Constable.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleAutolycus (popular title)
Materials and techniques
oil on canvas
Brief description
Oil painting by Charles Robert Leslie depicting Autolycus from Shakespeare's 'A Winter's Tale' (Act IV, Scene 4). Great Britain, 1836.
Physical description
Oil painting depicting the character Autolycus from Shakespeare's 'A Winter's Tale' (Act IV, Scene 4).
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 53.3cm
  • Estimate width: 73.6cm
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, 1857
Subject depicted
Literary reference'The Winter's Tale' by William Shakespeare
Summary
Autolycus was a thief disguised as a pedlar who appears in Shakespeare's play A Winter's Tale. He is shown here selling cheap goods and sensational printed ballads to gullible country folk. Leslie based the background sky and the ash tree at the right on studies supplied by his friend, the landscape painter John Constable.
Bibliographic reference
Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990, pp. 164-65
Collection
Accession number
FA.115[O]

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 Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis.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 19, 2003
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest