DYCE, William

(b. 1806 Aberdeen, d. 1864 London)

Scottish painter, scientist and art administrator. He studied in London and Rome where he was influenced by the Nazarenes and he is said to have painted a Madonna in 1828 (now lost), which may have helped to transmit the new German ideas to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (founded in 1848).

As an artist Dyce was influential in his support for the revival of religious subject matter in art and for fresco painting. In both these areas he was affected by his visit to Rome in 1825 (and later in 1827-28, 1832 and 1845-46) where he established contact with German Nazarene artists like Frederick Overbeck and Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Dyce thus formed a vital link between the Nazarenes in Germany and the Pre-Raphaelites in Britain.

Dyce also became involved with several major joint commissions for frescoes, principally the Garden Pavilion at Buckingham Palace (1842-43) and the Palace of Westminster, where his main achievement was the Queen’s Robing Room in the House of Lords (1847 onwards). In between these two projects he painted the fresco Neptune assigning to Britannia the Empire of the Seas for Prince Albert on the staircase at Osborne House. Ironically, he is today perhaps best known for two paintings in oil: Titian’s First Essay in Colour (Aberdeen Art Gallery) and Pegwell Bay: A Recollection of October 5 1858 (London, Tate Gallery).

Dyce was an important figure in the Victorian art world and he shared with Prince Albert a concern for the public role that art should play in society, both as regards education and design. He held several influential positions, including Superintendent of the School of Design in London from 1837 to 1843; from 1844 he was Professor of Fine Art at King’s College, London University. He was also closely involved in 1853 with proposals for the development of the National Gallery, London, giving evidence to a Parliamentary Select Committee, but publishing his forthright suggestions separately.

Dyce was an artist of omnivorous interests extending from ecclesiology through geology to musical composition, specifically in connection with the Motett Society, which he established in 1844.

St Joseph

The pleasure that Dyce’s Virgin and Child gave to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert resulted in the commission a year later of Saint Joseph to form a pair. This was finished in 1847 and was thought by Prince Albert to be finer than the Virgin and Child. Both pictures were hung after Prince Albert’s death in the Queen’s Bedroom at Osborne House, Isle of Wight.

The Virgin and Child and Saint Joseph are both works that in their simplicity of design, purity of outline and restricted colour are comparable with paintings by Overbeck and Schnorr von Carolsfeld.

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The Virgin and Child

There exists an earlier painting (possibly dating from 1838) of the same subject in the Tate Gallery, London, and a variant of the present design in the Castle Museum, Nottingham. The latter, which is on slate, was made in preparation for the present picture. All three paintings have compositional affinities with Raphael, particularly works such as the Madonna del Granduca, the Madonna Tempi and the large Cowper Madonna. Dyce made a number of preparatory studies for the Virgin and Child and in a surprisingly wide variety of media - drawings, watercolours, oil and apparently even fresco, although this last item may be the painting on slate in Nottingham.

The painting in the Royal Collection was acquired by Prince Albert in 1845. The pleasure that the Virgin and Child gave to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert resulted in the commission a year later of Saint Joseph to form a pair. This was finished in 1847 and was thought by Prince Albert to be finer than the Virgin and Child. Both pictures were hung after Prince Albert’s death in the Queen’s Bedroom at Osborne House, Isle of Wight. The queen herself made a copy in pastel of the Virgin and Child.

The Virgin and Child and Saint Joseph are both works that in their simplicity of design, purity of outline and restricted colour are comparable with paintings by Overbeck and Schnorr von Carolsfeld.

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