The Strand Magazine, Vol. 01, No. 03, March 1891: An Illustrated MonthlyVarious
History
The Strand Magazine, Vol. 01, No. 03, March 1891: An Illustrated Monthly
Various
English literature -- Periodicals; Short stories, English -- Periodicals
It is probable that were a novelist to concoct a plot out of the story
surrounding a certain Sir Joshua Reynolds in the possession of Lord
Crewe, the public would snap their fingers at it and dub the whole thing
ridiculous and impossible.
A former Lord Crewe had a picture painted of his son and daughter.
Though the faces were faithful, the attitudes of the figures were
somewhat fanciful; the daughter is holding a vase, and the boy is posing
as a cupid. When the son had grown to manhood he quarrelled with his
father, and he, to mark his extreme anger, caused the cupid to be cut
out of the canvas, giving instructions for it to be destroyed, and a
tripod painted in its place. Thus it remained for over a hundred years.
But the little cupid was not lost. It had, by some mysterious means,
after this lapse of time, found its way into the hands of a dealer, who
recognised it, having seen an engraving of the original before it was
cut. He immediately communicated with the present Lord Crewe, who still
had the picture. It was found that the cupid fitted exactly into the
space where the tripod stood. Lord Crewe not only caused the cupid to be
restored to its proper place, but, in order to commemorate this
remarkable incident, took out the now historical tripod, had a piece of
canvas with appropriate scenery painted, and caused the tripod to be
inserted therein. The cupid now hangs in his house as a memento of a
strange act on the part of one of his ancestors.
[Illustration: SON AND DAUGHTER OF LORD CREWE. _By Sir Joshua
Reynolds._]
Lord Cheylesmore, well known as having one of the finest collections of
Landseers in the world, has a dog painted by this great artist, with a
curious story attached to it. After Charles Landseer had all but
completed the painting of his celebrated picture of "Charles I. at Edge
Hill," he persuaded his brother Edwin to paint in a dog. This Sir Edwin
consented to do; and, after the work was engraved, the original got into
the hands of a dealer, who cleverly cut out the dog, and had another put
in place of it. He secured the services of an able artist to paint a
background for the animal which had been so ignominiously deprived of
the honour of reclining in the presence of Charles I. This he sold as a
Landseer--as, indeed, it was; and this highly interesting little
creature is the one now owned by Lord Cheylesmore. As regards that of
"Charles I. at Edge Hill," we believe we are correct in saying that it
was recently purchased by the Walker Art Gallery at Liverpool.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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