Artz of Xerxes

Xerxes

A powerful Persian King whose name means "ruling over heroes". He was the son of Darius I and his wife Atossa, a daughter of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire. Xerxes was crowned when he was about 36 and became King of Persia and Media, Great King, King of Kings, the King of Nations.

Stairway leading to ceremonial complex (Apadana), Persepolis, Iran. Persians. C. 491-486 BCE. -relief sculpture -Darius holds an audience while his son Xerxes listens behind the throne. -Once brightly painted.
 
The armies of Persia incorporated soldiers from Babylon, Phonecia, Mesopotemia, Egypt and Israel. Darius I died while assembling an army to attack and punish Athens for defeating the Persians at Marathon. Xerxes was left with this task and he planned to invade Athens. His first attempt to cross Hellespont failed when a storm destroyed the bridges he had ordered built. His second attempt was successful and many of the smaller Greek states along with other powerful kingdoms joined sides with Persia.

Xerxes killing a Greek hoplite, perhaps Leonidas....seal from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
After the defeat of the Spartans and King Leonidas at The Hot Gates Xerxes captured Athens. What happened in Athens has forever stayed in Athens. Tales raced through Greece that Xerxes ordered the city burned in a fit of anger and retribution. But, why would such a strategic, forward thinking King destroy such a vital trade port. Some legends tell of the burning of the city as an accident set about by the panic that ensued before the attack as terrified and frightened citizens fled for the Isthmus of Cornith. Other legends whisper of it being a Scorched Earth, a strategic military manuever where everything that may be an asset to an incoming enemy is destroyed; food supplies, wells, shelter, equipment are all burned. This tactic had been used against his father by the Scythians years earlier. It would also be considered as a means to keep out the armies of the Alexander the Great several years later.

15 years after his encounter with King Leonidas, Xerxes and his eldest son are murdered.

                                                          Xerxes Tomb
This same Xerxes is the Persian King of the Biblical tale of the young girl Esther.

Esther before Xerxes TINTORETTO 1547-48 Oil on canvas

This week we give you the Artz of Xerxes.

Marmalade Cat Artz

On November 30^th 1962 Sir John Colville, also known as Jock, gave Sir Winston Churchill a cat. It was the Prime Minister’s Birthday and he was very fond of cats.  He named the cat Jock and the Marmalade, white socked and white bibbed cat settled in to live at Chartwell.

The Churchills bought Chartwell in 1922. In 1965 after he had died his wife released the house to the National Trust. In 1966 it was opened to the public for tours.

Legend tells us that PM Churchill would not sit down for dinner until Jock showed up.  The two were very close.  It was Churchill’s wish that the cat be allowed to stay in the house after his death. 

Years later his family insisted that there always be a Marmalade cat with 4 white socks and a white bib living at Chartwell.

Last week Jock VI moved into Chartwell. Jock V and the previous care taker have retired to the Scottish countryside.

Marmalade cats are also known as Ginger Cats and can range in color from pale orange to a deep red. They are often tabby patterned or striped.  Marmalade cats also tend to be male.

This week in honor of Jock VI we present ….

Marmalade Cat Artz

Artz of cousin Sawrey

                                     Sawrey Gilpin

                                               by William Sherlock
                                                watercolour, 1790s
                                                   NPG 4328
                                          © National Portrait Gallery, London

 

Sawrey Gilpin, another cousin, was the younger brother of William Gilpin who we focused on a few weeks ago; famous for his “picturesque” art. His father operated an art school in Carlisle and at age 14 Sawrey was sent to London to study art under Samuel Scott for nine years in Covent Garden.  But Sawrey was not interested in plants and flowers; he drew instead the horses he saw in and around the Garden.

 

Furiband with his Owner Sir Harry Harpur and a Groom, 1774, oil on canvas, Calke Abbey, Derbyshire

Sawrey Gilpin was also an English painter, illustrator and etcher. He specialized in animals, specifically horses and sporting dogs. His work was so good that he was employed by the Duke of Cumberland,
Prince William Augustus, youngest son to George II King of England to paint portraits of his “celebrated” racing horses.

                                                        Mare and Stallion in a Landscape

 

He was born in 1744 and by 1774 he was president of the Incorporated Society of Artists. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1786 until his death in 1807. In 1797 Sawrey Gilpin was made a Royal Academician. 

A Brown and White Setter in a Wooded Landscape

 

Landscapes were not the best thing he painted so there are several collaborations where other artists such as William Hodges, George Barret, and Philip Reinagle painted pastoral forests and Sawrey painted in the deer, horses or cattle.

        Sawrey Gilpin, George Barret Senior Broodmares and Colts in a Landscape

 

 

Artz of the Battle of Worcester

Every week I wait for what will inspire me for the following week’s Artz focus. Lately it has been family ghosts who were artists.

As I was pondering and ghost hunting I came upon my 9^th Great Grandfather Thomas Gilpin. He was involved in an interesting bit of History, the Battle of Worcester. This occurred on 3 September 1651 in Worcester England. It was to be the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and his Parliamentarian soldiers defeat King Charles II and his Royalist Soldiers.

                                                       Oliver Cromwell by Robert Walker

Cromwell established the commonwealth of England and made himself her protectorate. Grandfather Gilpin commanded a regiment of Ironsides at the battle of Worcester. The Ironsides were Parliamentarian troops in the Calvary. The name comes from Old Ironsides a nickname many had for Cromwell. The entire Gilpin family remained loyal supporters of Cromwell up until his death in 1658. In 1661 Grandfather Gilpin was arrested for refusing to sign an oath of allegiance to King Charles II who was back on the throne. 

                                                          Portrait of King Charles II / Studio of Adriaen Hanneman

King Charles escaped Cromwell and after 6 weeks of adventure he made his way to France. During his travel through Bristol; Jane Lane, the sister of Colonel Lane in King Charles Army disguised the King as a man servant and traveled with him to Bristol where Charles was to board a ship for France. There was no ship and his adventure continued.

Henry Lascelles; Jane (née Lane), Lady Fisher; King Charles II probably by or after Stefano della Bella etching

This week we present the Artz of the Battle of Worcester. 

Cherry Artz

                                                   George Washington by Gilbert Stuart

In 1533 my very great Grandfather William Gilpin married a woman by the name of Elizabeth Washington. Several generations later in 1732 George Washington was born and several more generations later I was born making George Washington, the first President of the United States, my 15th cousin 7 times removed.

His official birthday is February 11 but we celebrate it on February 22. My birthday is officially February 5th but I celebrate it from the 1st through the 9th. So we have much more than genetics in common.

Discovering this immediately made me think of the legend of 6 year-old George, the hatchet and the doomed cherry tree. You remember the story it is told and retold to young school children all across America each year.

When George was about six years old, he was made the wealthy master of a hatchet of which, like most little boys, he was extremely fond. He went about chopping everything that came his way.

One day, as he wandered about the garden amusing himself by hacking his mother's pea sticks, he found a beautiful, young English cherry tree, of which his father was most proud. He tried the edge of his hatchet on the trunk of the tree and barked it so that it died.

Some time after this, his father discovered what had happened to his favorite tree. He came into the house in great anger, and demanded to know who the mischievous person was who had cut away the bark. Nobody could tell him anything about it.

Just then George, with his little hatchet, came into the room.

"George,'' said his father, "do you know who has killed my beautiful little cherry tree yonder in the garden? I would not have taken five guineas for it!''

This was a hard question to answer, and for a moment George was staggered by it, but quickly recovering himself he cried:

"I cannot tell a lie, father, you know I cannot tell a lie! I did cut it with my little hatchet.''

The anger died out of his father's face, and taking the boy tenderly in his arms, he said:

"My son, that you should not be afraid to tell the truth is more to me than a thousand trees! Yes - though they were blossomed with silver and had leaves of the purest gold!''

 This tale was written by Mason L. Weems and published in 1809 ten years after Cousin George's death. The reason for this tale as well as others could have been to illustrate the larger than life and heroic qualities George exhibited later in his life. This moral tale that appeared for many years in the McGuffey Reader text book has become a part of American Mythology.

Parson Mason Weems

This portrait of Parson Weems appears above the mantelpiece at the Weems-Botts Museum in Dumfries, Virginia.

 

 

 

 

In honor of the cherry tree this week we present Cherry Artz

John Gilpin's Artz Adventure

I am minding my own business ghost hunting for the elusive parents of one Thomas Gilpin related to Rev. William Gilpin I focused on a couple of weeks ago. Thomas Gilpin is my 10th Great Grandfather. He died in 1628 in Caton, Lancashire, England. That is all I have going backwards. I have lots of info from his son Thomas moving forward so, I am digging in the most unlikely places such as, Googling for images with the words John Gilpin who happens to be a possibility for his father.

I start researching John Gilpin and I find a Ballad with an odd history covering it like frosting on a cake. The Ballad is called The Diverting History of John Gilpin. It is based on a real person and a real event. The Ballad was written 1782 by William Cowper. The story of John Gilpin's unfortunate accident was told to him by his friend Lady Anna Austen.

John is a very wealthy draper, a person who sells cloth and materials for clothing also known as a haberdasher. He had a shop in Cheapside, London which was a huge marketing square.

John owned property in Olney, Buckinghamshire which is historicly famous for its lace production. As fate would have it William Cowper who wrote the Ballad and is a well known English Poet and hymnist lived in Olney near the property owned by John.

                                         'Cowpers summer house Olney, Buckinghamshire'

                                         Engraved by H. Wallis Sc; Drawn by T.H. Shepherd Delt.

As it is told John, his wife and children become seperated from each other while traveling to the Bell Inn in Edmonton, London. John looses control of his horse and the animal travels 10 miles past Edmonton to the town of Ware.

 

Pub Location

John Gilpin, London Road, Ware, Herts
                      

Mr. Cowper has had a lifelong battle with depression and is the grasp of it when Lady Austen tells him this tale. This story cheered him up so much so that he put it into verse. He publishes it annonymously in 1782 and again in 1785 and the public go wild for it; soon it is pirated and published everywhere in books of all kinds, etchings, toys,

 posters and even a clipper ship in 1852 is christened the John Gilpin in honor of the character.

 

 

The ship is best known for a race agaisnt the Flying Fish in 1852 and for it's fateful encounter with an iceberg.

In 1878 Randolph Caldecott illustrates the poem and it is republished. One of the illustrations of John Gilpin riding the runaway horse becomes the basis for the design of the Caldecott Medal. The nursery Rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence which was also illustrated by Caldecott has used as the basis for the other side of the medal.

The Caldecott Medal which was designed and created by Rene Paul Chambellan in 1937 is given once a year to recognize the most distinguihed American picture book for children. It is awarded to the illustrator.

Randolph Caldecott was and English artist and illustrator. He not only ilustrated childrens books but also drew cartoons, made sketches of The House of Parliament, exhibited sculptures and paintings in oil and watercolour in the Royal Acedemy. Van Gogh and Gauguin were some of his well known admirers.

This week enjoy John Gilpin's Artz Adventure.

Artz of Gallows

While I was researching paintings by William Gilpin two weeks ago I came across a piece he did called "Execution". It was haunting, and eerie and I did not use it. However, my curiousity was aroused by who was left there hanging, why, and were there other works of art that depicted a hanging or a gallows.

                                                          "Execution" William Gilpin

A gallows is a frame of wood used as a means of torture before during or after an execution by hanging. The gallows came into use shortly after Constantine the Great abolished crucifixion.

 

                    The execution of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw in 1661.                   

The French word for gallows is potence from the Latin word potencia meaning power. They were errected as a grim reminder of the pwer of the judicial system or the whims of a king.

During the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries gallows were permanent structures and the bodies would remain hanging until they decompsed. These structures were built large and in very conspicous places. They were meant to be seen from far and wide and were a common sight. Since they were a part of the landscape, castle grounds, city squares they were included by artists.

                             Gallows near Kampen: summer view 1620-1625, by Hendrick Avercamp

Place names often contained the word gallows because of the frequency of use of the place. Gallows Corner in Havering, London, England. Gallow Hill, Huesbreck, Dunrossness, Shetland Island. Gallows Glen, Kildare, Ireland.

The inscription reads:  "The best preserved three-sided gallows in Germany - built in 1550 refurbished in 1597 - It served justice for the court of Beerfelden.  The condemned stood at the stone cross under the linden to receive the last rites.  The last execution was carried out in 1804,  a gypsy woman was executed for stealing a chicken and some bread." Lee Waite

This week we present the Artz of Gallows.