Paolo & Francesca
Paolo & Francesca’ painted in oil on canvas byVictor John Robertson (British, fl. 1892-1909) within a period ‘Watts’ type frame.
According to Dante, Francesca and Paolo were seduced by reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere and became lovers. Subsequently they were surprised and murdered by Giovanni before they were able to repent.
The tragic story of these adulterous lovers is recounted in Dante’sInferno, and was a popular subject with artists andsculptorsfrom the late 18thCentury onwards. In 1854 G.F. Watts showed his first version ofthis same themeat the British Institution, and this may have suggested the subject to Rossetti, whose watercolour of this same title, (1855) is held at the Tate. The popularity of the subject with artists such as Watts and Rosetti would in turn have influenced Robertson in his choice of subject.
Born in 1870, Robertson studied at the Royal Academy Schools between 1892 and 1897. Always resident in London, (Battersea, Pimlico and Chelsea), he exhibited at the RA on ten occasions, between 1892 and 1909. This painting, No.587 was his exhibit for 1903.
The work is further noted in Britain’s Tribute to Dante In Literature and Art by Paget Toynbee and D. Litt, written for The British Academy’s Dante Commemoration of 1921.
o.s:w.18.5 in x h.22 in
s.s:12 in x 16 in
