The Death of Chevalier Bayard
| The Death of Chevalier Bayard | |
|---|---|
_-_The_Death_of_Chevalier_Bayard_-_RCIN_407525_-_Royal_Collection.jpg) | |
| Artist | Benjamin West |
| Year | 1772 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, history painting |
| Dimensions | 221.6 cm × 179.1 cm (87.2 in × 70.5 in) |
| Location | Royal Collection, London |
The Death of Chevalier Bayard is a 1772 history painting by the Anglo-American artist Benjamin West. It depicts the death of Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard at the Battle of the Sesia in Italy in 1524.[1] Fatally wounded he had urged his retreating French soldiers to abandon him. He is show receiving the homage of his enemies, the troops of Charles V.[2]
It was one of a number of commissions West received from George III. Along with other neoclassical works, it was produced for a sitting room at Buckingham Palace. West received three hundred guineas for producing this and its pendant piece The Death of Epaminondas which also deals with courageous, stoic acceptance of a noble death.[3] These vertical paintings were designed to flank his celebrated The Death of General Wolfe. The theme of a wounded, dignified but defeated commander echoed the role played by Wolfe's adversary Montcalm at the Siege of Quebec.[2] The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition in 1773. Today it remains in the Royal Collection.[3]
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- McNairn, Alan. Behold the Hero: General Wolfe and the Arts in the Eighteenth Century. McGill-Queen's Press, 1997
- Millar, Oliver. The Later Georgian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen. Phaidon 1969.
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