''God Speed'' is a painting by British artist
Edmund Leighton
Edmund Blair Leighton (21 September 18521 September 1922) was an English painter of historical genre scenes, specialising in British Regency, Regency and medieval subjects. His art is associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, pre-Raphael ...
, depicting an armored knight departing to war and leaving his beloved. The painting was exhibited in the
Royal Academy of Arts in 1900.
''God Speed'' was the first of several paintings by Leighton in the 1900s on the subject of
chivalry, including ''
The Accolade'' (1901) and ''The Dedication'' (1908).
Composition
A woman ties a red sash around a knight's arm
bidding farewell before battle.
When the painting was ready for transportation to the Royal Academy, Leighton made a last-moment change in the studio.
He scraped out the work of a week and within two hours made his desired change.
Provenance
After being bought from Leighton, the painting was owned by several people and in 1988 appeared at
Christie's.
It was then housed in an American private collection and in 2000 was again submitted to Christie's.
In 2007 the painting appeared at
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
and then in a British private collection.
On 10 May 2012 ''God Speed'' was sold again for £481,250 to a private collector through Sotheby's in London.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:God Speed (painting)
1900 paintings
History paintings
Paintings by Edmund Leighton
Women in art
War paintings
Horses in art