John Rogers Herbert
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John Rogers Herbert (23 January 1810 – 17 March 1890) was an English painter who is most notable as a precursor of
Pre-Raphaelitism The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...
.


Early career

John Rogers Herbert was born in
Maldon, Essex Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produce ...
. In 1826, he moved to London to study at the Royal Academy Schools. However, after the death of his father in 1828, Herbert was forced to leave the Academy Schools and began painting professionally – mostly book illustrations and portraiture. He was successful in his early career, even painting a portrait of Princess Victoria in 1834. However, he was not satisfied with mere money-making portraits and illustrations. His early sketches predict his later interest in larger historical subjects with challenging moral themes and complex compositions. His early subjects were romantic, and many are taken from Venetian history. His work exhibited at the
British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...
and the
Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...
had titles such as: ''The Plain Gold Ring'' (1832), ''A Lady Watching the Stars'' (1834) and ''Guilt and Innocence'' (1834). Herbert's first major success was ''The Appointed Hour'' (1835), depicting a melodramatic scene in which a Venetian man lies murdered at the place appointed for a tryst with his lover. The work became a popular engraving.Hilary Guise, ''Great Victorian Engravings'', Astragal, 1980. Herbert followed it with other dramatic subjects such as ''Captives Detained for a Ransom, by Condottieri'' (1836) and ''Death of Haidee'' (1838).


Conversion and Pre-Raphaelitism

Herbert had been childhood friends with architect A. W. Pugin, and the two men were very close. Pugin, who was co-architect for the New Palace of Westminster, was a convert to Catholicism and had an influence on Herbert's decision to join the Catholic Church, which happened around 1840. It was in 1840 that Herbert painted his first 'Catholic' picture, ''Boar Hunters and Pilgrims of the 15th Century Receiving Refreshments at the Gate of a Convent''. Herbert's conversion to the Catholic faith is a defining point in his career. His art gains a deeper purpose and becomes much more personal. Herbert was elected an
Associate of the Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...
in 1841, and became a full
Royal Academician The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purp ...
in 1846. Herbert's work influenced the newly formed Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood – who asked him to sponsor their publication '' The Germ'', and whose artistic goal was to 'out-Herbert Herbert'. Herbert's paintings ''The First Introduction of Christianity into Great Britain'' (1842) and ''Our Saviour Subject to his Parents in Nazareth'' (1847) were the inspiration for the two most important early works of
William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism ...
and
John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...
, founders of Pre-Raphaelitism. The two paintings, Hunt's '' A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary'' and Millais' ''
Christ in the House of His Parents ''Christ in the House of His Parents'' (1849–50) is a painting by John Everett Millais depicting the Holy Family in Saint Joseph's carpentry workshop. The painting was extremely controversial when first exhibited, prompting many negative revi ...
'' were exhibited at the RA in 1850 to great controversy. Herbert used his position within the RA to help the young artists.


Westminster frescoes

When the old
Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north b ...
was destroyed by fire in 1834, it was considered a great opportunity for British art. In 1845 Herbert was commissioned, along with several other artists, to paint scenes from English literature in the Poet's Hall in the Palace of Westminster. The commission followed several cartoon competitions and much national coverage, and Herbert was assigned a subject from
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, ''Lear Disinheriting Cordelia''.
T. S. R. Boase Thomas Sherrer Ross Boase (31 August 1898 – 14 April 1974) was a British art historian, university teacher, and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. Early life and education Thomas Boase was born in Dundee, Scotland, to Charles Millet B ...
, ''The Decorations of the New Palace of Westminster 1841-1863'', in: ''Journal of the
Warburg Warburg (; Westphalian: ''Warberich'' or ''Warborg'') is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany on the river Diemel near the three-state point shared by Hessen, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is in Höxter di ...
and
Courtauld Courtauld is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adam Courtauld Butler or Adam Butler (British politician), DL (1931–2008), British Conservative Party politician and MP * Augustine Courtauld (1904–1959), often called August Co ...
Institutes'' 17:1954, pp. 319–358.
''Lear Disinheriting Cordelia'' (1850) is the first work of Hebert's to show the overt influence of the Nazarenes. The fresco, and related oil works, were critically and publicly acclaimed. However, the fresco itself began to deteriorate almost immediately. Modern restoration has discovered the problem to have been a combination of fire and gas pollution and the use of lime plaster. After the success of ''Lear'', Herbert was commissioned in 1850 to paint nine more frescoes in the Peer's Robing Room, on the theme of "Justice on Earth, and its development in Law and Judgement". The frescoes would illustrate scenes from Biblical history including ''Moses bringing down the Tables of the Law to the Israelites'', ''The Fall of Man'', ''His Condemnation to Labour'', ''The Judgement of Solomon'', ''The Visit of the Queen of Sheba'', ''The Building of the Temple'', ''The Judgement of Daniel'', ''Daniel in the Lion's Den'' and ''The Vision of Daniel''."Seventh Report of the Commissioners on the Fine Arts, with Appendix.". Ed. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty. London: William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street, for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1847. Herbert began on ''Moses'' in 1858. The process was painstaking and frustrating, owing to the continuous deterioration of the fresco as he painted it. In 1861 Herbert erased the entire work and started again in the waterglass technique, as suggested by Prince Albert. He finally finished in 1864, but the time taken to understand the technique was unexpected, and had not produced a perfect result, as the painting continued to deteriorate. Nevertheless, Herbert considered ''Moses'' one of his most important works. Herbert negotiated a higher rate than originally agreed for Moses, owing to the time it had taken him to complete it. However, because of the delay, the death of Prince Albert and the unsuccessful fresco and waterglass techniques, Herbert's commissions for the other works were cancelled. However, he painted ''The Judgement of Daniel'' in oil, and presented it to the Palace years later, in 1880.


Notable works

* ''The Appointed Hour'' (1835) * ''The First Introduction of Christianity into Great Britain'' (1842) * ''The Procession of the Brides of Venice'' (1843) * ''Sir Thomas More and his Daughter'' (1844) * ''The Trial of the Seven Bishops'' (1844) * ''St. Gregory the Great teaching the Roman Boys to Sing the Chant'' (1845) * ''Our Saviour Subject to his Parents at Nazareth'' (1847) * ''Lear Disinheriting Cordelia'' (1850) * ''The Hebrew Mother of Moses'' (1857–1858) * ''Moses and the Tables of the Law'' (1858–1864) * ''Mary Magdalene'' (1859) * ''Laborare est Orare'' (1862) * ''Valley of Moses, in the Desert of Sinai'' (1866) * ''Asyut on the Nile'' (1873) * ''Landscape with Tobias and the Fish'' (1877) * ''Outside Jerusalem'' (1878) * ''The Judgement of Daniel'' (1880) * ''Nazareth'' (1886)


Notes


External links

*
"John Rogers Herbert, R.A."
Website with information on John Rogers Herbert, including a selected list of works.
''John Rogers Herbert, R.A.''
a website dedicated to Herbert's work, now superseded by the above. {{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, John Rogers 1810 births 1890 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters People from Maldon, Essex Converts to Roman Catholicism Royal Academicians Catholic painters 19th-century English male artists