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La Favorita, 1879
MESSAGE:
'La Favorita' was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1879, and I believe its current whereabouts is unknown. Here is a drawing of the picture taken from 'Academy Notes', May 1879.
"Turning towards the door leading to the central hall, we come to a large figure subject by Mr. Waterhouse; a girl in a blue and maize dress, very forcibly painted."
RESPONSES:
This is an interesting one, the composition looks quite odd. No doubt I'll just have to make a small coloured version to think about the possibilities of how JW could have resolved this painting.
Seems a more complete picture of JWs work is becoming available every day.
Thanks
Neil
Neil, it may be leaving the edge details off. Hard to tell in the illustration but she is sitting on a Victorian lowback divan with a tapestry throw and a pillow, and that way too favorite leopard rug under her feet. (How many painters used one at that time?) I'm trying to remember the word for the metal object at the bottom right...back later.
Thanks Ness
I've been working on identifying components from other paintings of the period. The tripod appears in The Favourites of Emporor Honorious, the divan legs are in Miriamme, the floor is as simple as that in Dolce far Niente.
The background is unfortunately a little unclear, so I'll take details from the Dolce far Niente and elaborate.
To understand it a bit more effectively I'm making a small sculpture of the scene (as per Leightons method).
Good to hear from you again Ness
Cheers
Neil
So good to see this, Julia .... thank you !
Hi Neil ... just wondering if you continued with the sculpture and the "small coloured version"?
Hi Cathy
I've had to put the sculpture on hold for the moment (while working on a copy of Emile Friant's Petit Barque) but have continued work on the small coloured version. It is a problem figuring out what the face should look like. The appearance is rather eastern but JW's models of the period all appear to have been English, so I'm a bit stumped... The face on pose is not characteristic for this period.
For the moment I'm practicing "vigorous brush work" which is not one of my personal strong points.
I went to Melbourne for a recent exhibition and dropped in at the Victorian National Gallery to see Ulysses and the Sirens again. Unfortunately the 19th and 20th century works are nearly all packed away while their gallery is being refurbished. Ulysses and the Sirens is the only 19th century English work on display at the moment, exhibited in a borrowed space in the 16th century section.
Hi Neil
Thanks so much for what you have shared. Very interesting !
All the best as you continue to work on the face .... might the same model also be in the 1879 Offerings?
Glad you were able to see Ulysses and the Sirens on your visit.
Best wishes ...
Hi Cathy
It does appear to me that JW had two models at the time. I'm assuming that one is Jessie and the other a dark haired model that I have no information on. So the face I'm building is likely to incorporate both models features.
It is unlikely that JWs sister sat for this one, the pose for the time would hardly have been proper.
I'll post the result in a few weeks.
Will look forward to seeing it, Neil ....
At last a small coloured version of La Favorita. It has taken a lot longer than planned. I've cut some detail out and guessed at a lot of the background.
Have tried a second time to upload the image. Any hints on what I can be doing wrong?
Wonderful, Neil !
Thanks so much for sharing.
Neil,
Nino would have incorporated body studies done with professional models with any studies he used from relatives and friends. I feel he had favorites for, even, different body parts - in the play I've been working on the past three years, he comes to Esther for her feet. If you will take a good look at the different paintings, the feet are almost always the same. I've seen signs of just her hair being used as well - look at Herod's sister in Miriamne.
The realism of his studies and portrait work compared to his compositions shows how much he borrowed and blended the features of many different models.
Hi Ness
I've had the opportunity to spend a good few hours recently studying Miriamne. I think that Herod's sister is modelled by Esther (not just the feet). Comparison of the photo of Esther with the Sister of Herod shows them to be very similar from the shoulders up.
You seem to be perfectly correct about his reuse of the same feet and other body parts he had done studies of. The foot of Diogenese and the foot of Herod have very similar shaped feet, painted some years apart it seems likely he reused his study. There are numerous examples including the heads of Diogenese, Herod, Ulysses.
I've found a note by Peter Trippi in the Christies catalogue for the recent sale of Dolce far Niente, in which he says that the same model sat for both Dolce and La Favorita. Unfortunately there is no more detail given in his entry.
Yes, Neil, painfully, I have to admit more than the hair might have gone into Herod's sister! ;)
My opinion: More than her feet are present in:
Consulting the Oracle (3 figures), some of the modelling in Saint Eulalia, Resting, then, except for the feet and, occasionally, body and hands, no more faces after Devonshire Garden in 1892.
Look at the Head of a Model in Trippi's monograph, 1879, page 44 in the American edition. She's the model for both Dolces, so the sketch will give you the best idea of La Favorita.
Thanks Ness
Good to have so accurate a drawing of the models face. I can see it will need a repaint.
I think Esther was responsible for more than just modelling in some paintings. The period after the marriage sees a quite sharp change in subject intensity.
That may be because more time was spent at the theater! ;)
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