There are several paintings and sculptures
relating to the English Civil War period in Manchester’s galleries and stately
houses. Here are my assessments of some of them. I have listed the work alphabetically by artist. Some are
contemporary to the 17th Century. Others are given to show how later
artists, up to the present day look back on the Civil War period. Victorian
artists were particularly fascinated with the period.
WILLIAM BLAKE – (1757-1827) PORTRAIT OF JOHN DRYDEN c. 1800-1803) Manchester
Mosely Street Art Gallery. Depicted carved in stone with a ghostly
ethereal air beside images of Alexander and Thais, from Dryden’s own work,
Alexander At The Feast Of The Power Of Music poem. The sense is of timelessness,
death and immortality in one and the same image.
WILLIAM BLAKE – (1757-1827) PORTRAIT OF
JOHN MILTON c. 1800-1803) Manchester Mosely Street Art Gallery. Milton,
blind and carved in stone, with a laurel crown and set in a rather watery
looking environment, which gives a sense that his spirit will never erode. The
serpent that swims round him with an apple in its jaws is that of his own
Paradise Lost poem.
FORD
MADDOX-BROWN (1821-1893) mural, BRADSHAW’S DEFENCE OF MANCHESTER 1642.
Manchester Town Hall. One of a dozen Pre-Raphaelite mural tapestries depicting
scenes from Manchester’s history adorning the main banqueting hall at
Manchester’s Town Hall. The work as a
whole (all twelve murals) took from 1879 to 1893 to complete). The romantic
over-dramatised picture of Bradshaw’s Defence makes the events look much more
exciting than they was. Bradshaw, as a lone Musket firing marksman, seems to
hold an entire Royalist division at bay on Salford Bridge. A horse has fallen, and
men try to rescue its rider or shelter from the gunfire Bradshaw unleashes. As
colourful and spectacular as this is, it is inaccurate in many respects.
Bradshaw was mainly in charge of defending Deansgate. The defence of the bridge
was in the hands of a German engineer, Johan Rosworm. Also, given the slow loading required for a musket, one man alone
would not have held so many Royalists held at bay.
For the actual events of the Siege see my page (ENGLISH)
CIVIL WAR IN MANCHESTER
FORD MADDOX-BROWN (1821-1893) – CROMWELL, PROTECTOR OF THE VAUDOIS. Oil On Canvas. Manchester City Art Gallery. Mosely
Street. Cromwell as Lord Protector, protesting against the a massacre of Swiss
protestants in Europe. He is dictating a letter to The Duke Of Savoy. The
writer is Andrew Marvell, the poet, who served as Cromwell’s joint Secretary.
The third man present as an advisor is also a famous poet, the blind John Milton,
Latin Secretary to the Protector. The Victorians regarded Cromwell as a
champion of s champion of democracy at a time when much of Europe was in
turmoil. Cromwell sits in the sash of office, and full battle armour even in a
time of peace in his own kingdom. The focus of the painting has both Cromwell
and Marvell looking in awe and admiration at Milton as he makes suggestions for
the wording of the statement Cromwell is drafting. Maps spread on the table,
and the fatigue in the men’s expressions shows that this minor event in
Cromwell’s life is being given a great deal of serious attention. There
is considerable realism here, though Cromwell’s armour is anachronistic at this
point in time. He would not have worn
it for a political briefing.
FERGUSON, WILLIAM (1632-95)
STILL LIFE WITH DEAD PIGEON, FINCHES & FALCON HOODS. Dark image of dead birds and
the instruments of their capture, the spoils of sport and the mastery of man
over nature. Disturbing in its decadence and sombre satisfaction with morbidity.
NOBLE, MATTHEW– OLIVER CROMWELL STATUE – WYTHENSHAW
PARK. The controversial Bronze
on granite statue of Oliver Cromwell, first unveiled on 1st December
1875. The Lord Protector stands directly facing Wythenshawe Hall,
which his forces brutally captured in 1643. The Statue was produced in the late
Victorian period and originally stood in Manchester City Centre, before being
moved to the Park in the 1980’s. The statue has given offence to many
descendants of the Royalists hurt, or killed by the Civil War, and especially
to the many Irish people in Manchester who have learned of Cromwell’s role in
the massacre at Drogheda in 1649. The statue is impressive, with Cromwell
depicted in full ‘Warts And All’ glory, with surprisingly big feet overhanging
the large rock shaped plinth on which he stands. It is a three dimensional
reworking of Lely’s famous portrait of Cromwell.
. Elizabeth Salisbury
Heywood, whose family had been involved in the Civil War on the Parliament
side, bequeathed it to the city. Until the 1980’s it stood on the corner of
Cateaton Street and Deansgate, close to the Cathedral. Deansgate’s role in the
Siege Of Manchester influenced the decision to put the statue there, though of
course Cromwell was not involved in the siege in any way. It cost £1,600 to
produce. It was never popular. Many Royalists saw it as a Parliamentary
statement of contempt against Queen Victoria. She had herself refused to
personally open the then new Manchester Town Hall unless the statue was
removed. Its own Lord Mayor therefore opened the Town Hall instead. The statue is still regarded by many as an
insult to the many migrant settlers to Manchester, especially the large Irish
population, given the massacres Cromwell perpetrated in Drogheda and Wexford
during his brutal occupation of Ireland in 1650. It has its supporters. Members of the Jewish communities still
sometimes lay flowers at its base, as Cromwell had been supportive and
influential of the wishes of the Jews to be allowed back into England. They had
been driven to exile by the Normans and only returned towards the end of the
Protectorate.
The reason for moving Cromwell to Wythenshawe was
simply pragmatic. He was proving to be a traffic hazard, as the road had to
veer around the statue and slowed the cars down. The Hall seems a more fitting
location for Cromwell’s statue, as it had been a billeting camp for
Parliamentary troops from its capture and onwards throughout hostilities; the
statue is now in a very sorry state. Its sword. (Visible in pictures from its
days on Deansgate) has been broken off and stolen, and the Lord Protector has
no protection from graffiti spray and bird droppings.
JOHN PETTIE c.1822 – THE DUKE OF MONMOUTH’S
INTERVIEW WITH JAMES 2cd. Oil On
Canvas. Manchester Mosely Street Art Gallery.
Captured, having been found hiding in a ditch, after his doomed attempt
to seize the English throne by force, Monmouth grovels before his King, and
natural uncle, James 2cd, begging for his life. The King looks down in abject
contempt on his nephew. The meeting takes place in a furniture free room.
Monmouth is on the floor with his hands tied behind his back. He seems to be
trying to kiss the King’s feet, but James has stepped back and shows no pity or
mercy, merely his revulsion. The painting depicts Monmouth as a desperate
unwilling martyr, while the King is seen as heartless and unemotional. Days
after the meeting, he would sign Monmouth’s death warrant. The painting
captures a human drama with a dark ominous tone in James’s funeral judgemental black
clothes and Monmouth’s shroud like garb.
The painting is based on lines in MacCauley’s ‘A History Of England’.
“To see him and not spare him was an outrage on humanity and decency. This
outrage the King was resolved to commit.”
JAN ALBERTSZ ROTIUS (1624-66) PORTRAIT OF A BOY
WITH A DOG – 1660. Oil on Canvas Manchester City Art Gallery
Mosely Street.
Long mistaken for a portrait of a girl, it is
actually a boy aged just one year old, though he looks about three. As the
gallery notes point out, all children in the mid-17th century wore
dresses, but boys were transferred into
breeches as puberty and adolescence approached.
The loyal, friendly, dog, a King Charles Spaniel
is large compared to the child. The boy holds a rattle, a rinkebel, as such devises were known, which were intended
as much to ward off evil spirits as to serve as a toy. The Rinkebel is wrapped
round the boy and he keeps a firm grip on it. The dog affords additional
protection, hinting that the parents were over-protective and affectionate.
The portrait was badly reframed in the 18th
century, being placed in a frame bearing the coat of arms of the house of
Orange, though the painting itself comes from the earlier Stuart period.
UNKNOWN ARTIST – (Follower of
the Robert Walker School) OLIVER CROMWELL (1599-1658) BOLTON ART GALLERY. Rather over handsome portrait of Cromwell in English
Country gentlemen garb, and bearing a gentle smile. This is no warts and all
portrayal, but a very exaggerated one.
UNKNOWN ARTIST - WYTHENSHAW HALL – The magnificent Hall contains several paintings
from the 17th Century celebrating the Cavalier pastimes of riding
and fox-hunting, as well as falconry. There is a photo of a re-enactment event
that took place at the Hall in 1928, forty years before The Sealed Knot
invented Civil War Re-enactment as a new art form and approach to history in
its own right. The dining Room features a lavish fireplace commemorating the
Civil War with swords and armour from the period. The main stairway has a
portrait, which is believed to be of Sir Robert Tatton, the Royalist grim,
taciturn, unsmiling owner and chief defender of the Hall and estate. There is also a portrait of Charles Worsely,
of Platt Hall, A Major General under Cromwell, and MP from 1654.
WARD, EDWARD MATTHEW
(1816-1879). THE EXECUTION OF THE MARQUIS OF MONTROSE. Salford City Victoria & Albert Art
Gallery. With
the companion painting on the Last Sleep Of The Earl Of Argyll (see below),
this painting was originally commissioned forte House of Lords, but the frames
were too big for the display space offered. The Scots were expected to vilify
Montrose, as he was brought to the scaffold as he had changed allegiances from
the Covenanters to the Royalist cause in the course of the Civil war, but they
pitied and sympathised with him instead. Here, they offer whispered words of
comfort. Someone brings him a cushion to give him a final gesture of comfort. A
Halberd bearer glares menacingly at the crowd to ward off any last minute rescue
attempts. Montrose looks cavalier and debonair, but tired and weary in a very
realistic portrait. That the picture was a companion to one of Argyll, a
descendant of Montrose’s Mortal enemies, The Campbells, is truly remarkable.
WARD, EDWARD MATTHEW (1816-1879). THE LAST SLEEP OF THE EARL OF ARGYLL. Salford City Victoria & Albert Art Gallery. The 9th Earl Of Argyll was executed in 1685 for his opposition to the Catholicism of James 2cd. He had faced such danger before. He had been charged with High Treason with his father, Lord Lorne, the 7th Earl of Argyll, (Montrose’s greatest enemy). While the 7th Earl was executed shortly after the Restoration, the 8th Earl had been spared. He was later charged again with treason for his flat refusal to sign up to the Test act. He fled to Holland (escaping prison dressed in women’s clothes) to escape trial, but later returned to participate in the Monmouth Rebellion. Captured, he finally faced execution. . The painting shows his last hours of rest. He has eaten is last meal, and read the papers and now sleeps contentedly, utterly untroubled by his pending painful doom. A Royalist figure in bright red looks on, more troubled and distressed than the dammed man himself. This could well be the King.
© Copyright. Arthur Chappell
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