Information

This is a photograph of a large oil sketch of 'The Ascension' begun by Brown whilst living in Paris in 1844 and finished later that year when he moved to England with his first wife Elisabeth. He entered it into a competition to design an altarpiece, of the Ascension of Christ, for the Church of St. James, Bermondsey (South London). He was unsuccessful and the commission was given to the British artist John Wood (1801-1877), now relatively unknown, whose winning design still hangs in the church. In 1845 Brown submitted the painting to the British Institution but it was rejected. It remained in his possession until the 1880s when it was bought, along with many of his other early works, by his Manchester patron Henry Boddington. The exact date and purpose of this photograph are unknown.LM

  • Accessioned, 1978.
  • © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery

Makers

Association Artist Organisation
After Ford Madox Brown -

Literature

Author(s) Date(s) Publisher Pages
Ford Madox Brown: The Unofficial Pre-Raphaelite
Laura MacCulloch, Tessa Sidey 2008 D. Giles Limited, London p. 64

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