Framed oil painting: The Dead Soldier by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797), c.1789
Key information
Museum number
A340
Object
Framed oil painting: The Dead Soldier by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797), c.1789
Gallery label
The Dead Soldier
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797)
Oil on canvas, c.1789
The Dead Soldier was one of Wright’s most popular works in his lifetime and a lucrative subject for printmakers. There are several versions: this is probably a reduced studio copy.
Unusually for Wright, the subject has a strong political message: the lack of provision for soldiers’ widows. A mother grieves over her dead husband and her future poverty. Her baby’s pink hand clutches the corpse’s white one, his eyes gazing out pitifully at the viewer.
For the figures, the artist drew on his studies of Roman sculpture.
A340
Presented in memory of Dr J Maurice Harper, 1939
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797)
Oil on canvas, c.1789
The Dead Soldier was one of Wright’s most popular works in his lifetime and a lucrative subject for printmakers. There are several versions: this is probably a reduced studio copy.
Unusually for Wright, the subject has a strong political message: the lack of provision for soldiers’ widows. A mother grieves over her dead husband and her future poverty. Her baby’s pink hand clutches the corpse’s white one, his eyes gazing out pitifully at the viewer.
For the figures, the artist drew on his studies of Roman sculpture.
A340
Presented in memory of Dr J Maurice Harper, 1939
On display?
Yes
