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FILIPPO GIUNTOTARDI
Rome 1768 ~ 1851 Rome
Edward Poynter was Lord Leighton’s chief disciple and follower. In Rome, in 1854, Leighton encouraged Poynter to study the figure rather than devote himself entirely to landscape, and, accordingly, arranged draperies for his young friend to study. Both artists sought to create ideal beauty, and both were deeply impressed by the classical tradition of Greek art. They were also convinced that perfection in drawing was an essential goal. However, whereas Leighton admired Raphael most, Poynter preferred the work of Michelangelo, and particularly admired the Sistine Chapel ceiling.1 It is particularly fascinating that both teacher and pupil were eventually elected
as Presidents of the Royal Academy.
Poynter established himself as one of the finest of all Victorian academic draughtsmen.
He exhibited a large number of both drawings and watercolours at the Royal Academy, Grosvenor and New Galleries. However, his talent for design developed alongside his remarkable capacity for figure drawing. During the late 1860s he undertook a series of decorative commissions which included the old Grill Room at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a part of the Royal Albert Hall frieze. In 1871 he was appointed first Slade Professor at University College, London, and in his published Slade Lectures (1879) he challenged Ruskin’s premise of ‘truth to nature’ and pleaded for the supremacy of the academic tradition.Poynter became President of the Royal Academy in 1876, and then from 1894 until 1904, was Director of the National Gallery, London.2 This last honour was the result of his great success with the commission he received from the first Earl of Wharncliffe to make four large paintings for his billiard room at Wortley Hall (1870s). Here he achieved a decorative classicism of the standard expected of his mentor, Lord Leighton.3
Our
female nude is reminiscent of the pose and serenity of Adam, reaching
out to God, in the centre of the Sistine ceiling. However, we
know that Poynter had always to work from a model. The pentimenti,
especially significant for the position of the right arm, suggest
that this drawing may have been for a specific purpose. The inscription
in the lower right corner is the collector’s mark of J. P. Heseltine
(18431929).Over the course of some fifty years Heseltine collected
not only some very fine Old Master drawings but also a number
of drawings and watercolours by Poynter. The two men were friends
and were both associated with the National Gallery in the 1890s.
Heseltine was a Trustee.4
1.
‘Edward J. Poynter, P.R.A’ in The Magazine of Art, Nov.
1896 to October 1897, 2 vols., London, Paris & Melbourne, 1896-97,
pp 114 & 115.
2. Alison Inglis in The Grove Dictionary of Art, Vol. 25,
pp.406-407.
3. Christopher Wood, Olympian Dreamers, London, 1983, p.131.
4. Cf. ‘The Heseltine Drawings Sale of a unique collection’
2, 25 October 1912, p.9; and also, ‘Mr. J. P. Heseltine A true
amateur of art’, The Times, 4 March 1929.
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