User:CitrusHemlock/Regulus (painting)
| Regulus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | J. M. W. Turner |
| Year | 1837 |
| Catalogue | 2011.6 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 89.5 cm × 123.8 cm (35.2 in × 48.7 in) |
| Location | Tate Britain, London |
Regulus is an 1837 oil painting by English artist J. M. W. Turner. It depicts the semi-mythological blinding of Roman consul Marcus Atilius Regulus at the hands of Carthaginian forces. It currently resides in the Tate Britain in London.
Background
[edit]Mythological background
[edit]During the First Punic War, Carthaginian forces captured the Roman consul and general Marcus Atilius Regulus, and subsequently tortured him. His exact fate is unknown, but many Roman historians claim he was blinded by having his eyelids cut off, and forced to look at the sun.
Description
[edit]Reception and criticism
[edit]Walter Stephenson slashed the painting.
John Ruskin despised the painting and Turner, wanting it displayed for humiliation as a demonstration of Turners sins.
Analysis
[edit]Matt Beaumont notes the contrast between previous depictions of Regulus as a heroic figure in previous paintings such as The Departure of Regulus, instead deliberately obscuring the figure and the surrounding mob. He also posits that the painting serves as a allegory for the crisis of the Enlightenment.
J. Hillis Miller Believes that Turners oil sketch Claudian Harbour Scene was meant to be a preliminary version of Regulus, instead of as is commonly believed Dido Directing the Equipment of the Fleet.
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Beaumont, Matthew (2020). "Reason Dazzled: The All-Seeing and the Unseeing in Turner's Regulus". British Art Studies (15). doi:10.17658/issn.2058-5462/issue-15/mbeaumont. ISSN 2058-5462.
- Holcomb, Adele M. (1981). "Turner and the Sublime". RACAR: revue d'art canadienne / Canadian Art Review. 8 (2): 157–162. ISSN 0315-9906. JSTOR 42630258.
- Gage, John (1969). Colour in Turner: Poetry and Truth. London: Studio Vista. ISBN 978-0-289-79560-6.