The Dead Soldier / Joseph Wright of Derby
About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 2006/1.156
- Title
- The Dead Soldier
- Artist
- Joseph Wright of Derby
- Artist Nationality
- British
- Artist Life Dates
- 1734-1797
- Medium and Support
- oil on canvas
- Object Creation Date
- 1789
- Object Creation Place
- Europe (continent)
- United Kingdom (nation)
- England (country)
- Creation Place 1
- Europe (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- United Kingdom (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- England (country)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase made possible by the W. Hawkins Ferry Fund and anonymous individual benefactors
- Dimensions
- 165.1 cm x 198.12 cm x 12.7 cm (65 in. x 78 in. x 5 in.)
- Century
- 18th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Painting
- Primary Object Type
- figures on landscape
- Physical Description
- A fallen man in the red coat of the 18th c. British military officer lies face down in a landscape. To the left, holding his hand, is a grieving widow and infant son. Behind the grouping is a landscape that opens off to the left with the reddish glow of continued combat. Behind the figures, a drapery has been set in the trees to frame the grouping and separate it from the distant landscape behind them.
- Subject Matter
- Inspired by a passage in the poem "The Country Justice" (1774-77) by John Langhorne, this painting depicts a grieving widow and child who left destitute by the husband's death is condemned to indigence. Wright is best known for his portrayal of Enlightenment scenes of scientific investigation and portraits. This painting was one of his most famous during his lifetime and was shown at the Royal Academy exhibition of 1789 to great acclaim. There is a smaller variant version painted by Wright in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (accession number 1998.29).
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 3182 x 2484
- File Size
- 325 KB
- Record
- 2006/1.156
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2006-sl-1.156/2006_1.156.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
- In public portfolios
Cite this Item
View the Help Guide for more information.
- Full citation
-
"The Dead Soldier; Joseph Wright of Derby." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2006-sl-1.156/2006_1.156.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 06, 2024.
