Josephine and the Fortune-Teller
| Josephine and the Fortune-Teller | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | David Wilkie |
| Year | 1837 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, history painting |
| Dimensions | 211 cm × 158 cm (83 in × 62 in) |
| Location | |
Josephine and the Fortune-Teller is an oil on canvas history painting by the British artist David Wilkie, from 1837.[1]
History and description
It depicts a story about the young Joséphine de Beauharnais visiting a fortune teller on her native island of Martinique, who predicts her future in France as the wife of Emperor Napoleon.[2]
The painting was produced at the suggestion of William Knighton and was commissioned by the politician John Abel Smith.[3] The previous year Wilkie had produced a painting featuring Josephine's husband, Napoleon and Pius VII at Fontainebleau.
It was exhibited at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition in London.[4] Today the painting is in the collection of the Scottish National Gallery, in Edinburgh, having been purchased in 1949.[5]
References
Bibliography
- Johnson, Edward Dudley Hume. Paintings of the British Social Scene: From Hogarth to Sickert. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986.
- Noon, Patrick & Bann, Stephen. Constable to Delacroix: British Art and the French Romantics. Tate, 2003.
- Tromans, Nicholas. David Wilkie: The People's Painter. Edinburgh University Press, 2007.