Other than art, history has always been an important part of me and what my interest are, and in particular art history, and I have recently been interest in the art depicting the Napoleonic Wars and found two artists who really caught my attention who were Jaques Louis David and Robert Alexander Hilligford. The paintings above shows David’s glorious depiction of Napoleon crossing the Alps through the Great St Bernard Pass in 1800, and several of Robert Alexander Hillingford’s during the Napoleonic Wars, and in particular ‘Summoned to Waterloo’ showing the men and soldiers leaving for the Battle of Waterloo. Both artists depict glorious scenes of the war, and Hillingford in particular, shows the effects that War had on the men, both fatal and the idea of parting with their sweethearts.
Another artist who specialised in war scenes was Elizabeth Southerden Thompson, Lady Butler, who was one of the few women to achieve fame within history paintings. For this reason I have much respect for the woman that she was, and in particular admire her ‘Scotland Forever!’ which I see on a regular basis at Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds. I believe that the time invested in the painting true pays off as the horses coming charging, there faces forcing their way through the air, and their soldiers sitting firmly and strong, waiting for the opportunity to use the weapons they hold so proudly and securely in their hands.
SOPHIE FAWCETT'S OCA LEARNING LOG 