WARD, James

The painting is signed lower right: 1838 J W D R A.

James Ward tried to express his own emotionally charged faith through a masterpiece of natural observation, his gigantic Gordale Scar finished in 1813. Here the towering expanse of rock and thundering cataract, set beneath a stormy sky, takes on a symbolism of its own. The encircling amphitheatre of the Scar becomes a microcosm, and the beasts who graze or lock antlers before it - few of which had actually roamed there since much earlier times - emphasize its primordial state. The white bull who watches over them is probably a very contemporary mark of British resolve in the face of Napoleonic attack.

The English painter could not have given a more apt or dramatic depiction of Napoleon’s fall from power than in this psychological image of his tragic fate. Marengo was Napoleon’s horse. We see it fretting to and fro, trembling on the brink, as it looks out over the see for its lost rider. The animal’s emotional state mirrors the catastrophic events. Lonely, riderless, and unsaddled, the stallion’s fear is visible in its eyes, the restless unease expressed in every muscle of its body. The distant horizon present under the darkening evening sky, into which the former wold conqueror has had to flee, leaving his faithful steed behind, is the metaphor in the painting for the historic event.

This oil sketch is related to James Ward’s 1827 painting on panel, entitled The Escape (private collection).

James Ward is best known for his accomplished animal studies although he also expertly captured people and landscapes; in this composition, he brings all three components together to create an engaging scene.

The painting is signed and inscribed on the wagon: ‘I.WARD.x/Paddington’.