Figure 1.--This very dramatic work was painted by Thomas Stothard. I'm not sure who the boy was or what the scene depicted is. We also do not know when the work was painted, we suspect about 1820. He looks to be wearing a skeleton suit. |
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Thomas Stothard was a noted painter, designer, and book illustrator. He was born in London (1755).
His father was a successful innkeeper at Long Acre. He was a delicate child and therefore his parents when he was 5 years old sent him to live with relatives in the country which was seen as more healthful.
He began school at Acomb. He also went to school at Tadcaster and at Ilford (Essex). He demonstrated a talent for drawing. His father thus apprenticed to a draughtsman of patterns for brocaded silks who had a shop at Spitalfields. Stothard as a diversion drew illustrations inspired by poets he read. His drawings were noted by Harrison, editor of the Novelist's Magazine. Stothard decided to persue a career in art. He was admitted as a student at the Royal Academy (1778). He left a prolific body of work. He liked best to paint historical sunjects, especially smaller sized works. Even so, some of his historical work was of monumental sizes. His most memorable commissions were the decorative staircase at Burghley House and the dome of the Advocates’ Library in Edinburgh. He also did illustrations for books, mostly novels and poetry.
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