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Britomart Redeems Faire Amoret: WILLIAM ETTY, R.A. (British 1787-1849) (Britomart Redeems Faire Amor

Currency:USD Category:Antiques Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
Britomart Redeems Faire Amoret: WILLIAM ETTY, R.A. (British 1787-1849) (Britomart Redeems Faire Amor
Britomart Redeems Faire Amoret: <B>WILLIAM ETTY, R.A. (British 1787-1849) (Britomart Redeems Faire Amoret) </B></I><BR>Britomart Redeems Faire Amoret, c. 1833<BR>Oil on canvas<BR>35.5in. x 25.5in.<BR>Provenance: Forbes, Old Battersea House; [Sotheby's Forbes Magazine Collection, June 9, 1994 lot 178]; Maas Gallery; private collection, Middlesex, England<BR>Exhibited: Manchester, Royal Institution, Modern Artists, 1833<BR><BR>William Etty appears to have made two versions of the present subject derived from Edmund Spencer's <I>The Faerie Queene.</B></I> The other version, which is a similar composition and an almost exact size to the present work, was formerly in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight until the 1950s and was acquired by the Tate Gallery, London in 1958 (see Dennis Farr, <I>William Etty,</B></I> 1958 cat. no 44, pl. 46.) One of the two versions was exhibited at the Royal Academy, London in 1833, no. 7.<BR><BR>The present work depicts a scene from Book III, Canto XII, verses XXX- XXXIV of <I>The Faire Queene.</B></I> The heroine Britomart, intended as a type of Queen Elizabeth, represents the virtues of valour and chastity. She enters a chamber in which an evil sorcerer holds Amoret captive: "that same woefull Lady, both whose hands/ Where bounden fast, that did her ill become,/ And her small waste girt rownd with yron bands/ Upon brazen pillour, by the which she stands. The 'vile Enchanteur sate,/ Figuring strange characters of his art:/ With living blood', a spell with which he sought to cause Amoret to fall in love with him. Soone as that virgin knight he saw in place/ His wicked bookes in hast he overthrew and fiercely running to that Lady trew,/ A murderous knife out of his pocket drew. Britomart and the sorcerer fought, but at the moment when her tormentor was about to be killed, the Lady which by him stood bound,/ Dernly into her called to abstaine/ From doing him to dy. For else her paine/ Should be remedilesse; sith none but hee/ Which wrought it could the same recure againe./ Therewith she stayd her hand, loth stayd to bee/ For life she him envyde, and long'd revenge to see."<BR><BR>Etty's paintings can be found in important public collections, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, Manchester City Art Gallery, National Museum Liverpool, and the Tate Gallery, London. <BR><BR><B>Important notice:</B> Heritage usually auctions material at the rate of 200-250 lots per hour. On some occasions eBay Live bid software or the Internet may not be able to keep up with the pace of the auction. We recommend placing a realistic absentee bid now as insurance to avoid disappointment. Occasionally the auctioneer may eliminate or reject an eBay Live bid, and the auctioneer may also reopen a lot after the close of the eBay live bidding (usually because we missed an audience bid), and may reject your bid even if it shows you as the winning bidder. By bidding via eBay Live, you agree that Heritage may award the lot to another bidder at its sole discretion under the circumstances described above or any other reasonable circumstances. Since eBay bids are not shown to us until we open the lot on the floor, we treat those bids just like floor bids. In most cases the floor responds before the eBay bid is presented to us, due to Internet lag time, so for consistency we have made it a policy that floor bids are always considered first over tie eBay live bids. Also please note that all Heritage lots purchased through eBay Live carry a 24.5% Buyer's Premium. Please make sure you read the Terms and Conditions before you bid.