William clarke wontner old painting 21 | < Back to Article

This period was a watershed in the development of History Painting. By the end, due to the dull prescriptions of the academies and the semantic confusion between istoria and history, the genre became devalued. 'Death of General Wolfe' (1771) by Benjamin West (1738-1820) just about lived up to its billing as a History Painting, but 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' (1933) by Paul Delaroche (1797-1856) was no more than sentimental melodrama. Another poor example of History Painting is 'Watson and the Shark'... Read Full Post >