Four Centuries of the world's finest artists
from our collection to yours

Thank you for visiting...

 Additional notes:
This is not a modern print. This impression is more than 130 years old. The strike is crisp and the lines are sharp. The original oil on canvas is housed in Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, England.
Extra Information:Beatrice refusing to greet Dante, she is walking on the left, along Arno River, Monna Vanna companying, putting her hand on Beatrice's shoulder, looking towards Dante who stands on the right and looks towards the women, a maidservant following the women, Ponte Vecchio in the background.
Dante and Beatrice is considered to be Holiday's most important painting. Holiday was described as "the last Pre-Raphaelite". Many of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's paintings, including Dante's Dream, had as their subject the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, and this interest is the likely inspiration for Holiday's painting. It is based on Dante's autobiographical work La Vita Nuova which describes his love for Beatrice Portinari. Dante concealed his love by pretending to be attracted to other women. The painting depicts an incident when Beatrice, having heard gossip relating to this, refuses to speak to him. The event is shown as Beatrice and two other women walk past the Santa Trinita Bridge in Florence. Beatrice wears a white dress and walks beside her friend Monna Vanna, with Beatrice's maidservant slightly behind. The model for Beatrice was Eleanor Butcher, Milly Hughes modeled for Monna Vanna, and the model for the maidservant was Kitty Lushington. Holiday was anxious that the painting should be historically accurate and in 1881 travelled to Florence to carry out research. He discovered that in the 13th century the Lungarno, the street on the north side of the River Arno between the Ponte Vecchio (seen in the background) and the Ponte Santa Trinita, was paved with bricks and that there were shops in the area; these are shown in the painting. He also learned that the Ponte Vecchio had been destroyed in a flood in 1235. It was being rebuilt between 1285 and 1290 and in the original painting it is shown covered in scaffolding.
Artist Biography:
Henry Holiday was an English historical genre and landscape painter, stained-glass designer, illustrator and sculptor. He is considered to be a member of the Pre-Raphaelite school of art. Holiday was born in London. He showed an early aptitude for art and was given lessons by William Cave Thomas. He attended Leigh's art academy and in 1855, at the age of 15, was admitted to the Royal Academy. Through his friendship with Albert Moore and Simeon Solomon he was introduced to the artists Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. This movement was to be pivotal in his future artistic and political life. In that same year, 1855, Holiday made a journey to the Lake District. This was to be the first of many trips to the area, where he would often holiday for long periods of time. Whilst in the Lake District, he spent much of his time sketching the views which were to be seen from the various hills and mountains. He wrote, "For concentrated loveliness, I know nothing that can quite compare with the lakes and mountains of Westmorland, Cumberland and Lancashire." Holiday worked in both oils and watercolours. In 1858, his first picture, a landscape painting, was exhibited at the Royal Academy and immediately sold - from that year his work was frequently shown at the Academy and elsewhere. In 1861, Holiday accepted the job of stained glass window designer for Powell's Glass Works - after Burne-Jones had left to work for Morris & Co. During his time there he fulfilled over 300 commissions, mostly for customers in the USA. He left in 1891 to set up his own glass works in Hampstead, producing stained glass, mosaics, enamels and sacerdotal objects. Holiday's stained glass work can be found all over Britain but some of his best is at the chapel of Worcester College, Oxford (c.1865), Westminster Abbey (the Isambard Kingdom Brunel memorial window, 1868), St. Luke’s church in Kentish Town and St Mary Magdalene, Paddington (1869). Holiday also did some sculpture, in 1861 producing a piece called Sleep which attracted favourable critical interest. Holiday worked for architect William Burges for a period, including providing wall and ceiling paintings for Worcester College, Oxford (1863–64) and furniture paintings - including Sleeping Beauty for the headboard in the bedroom of Burges's home The Tower House itself. The Sleeping Beauty bed is now in the collection of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum. Holiday has four oil paintings in British national public collections. In October 1864, Holiday married Catherine Raven and they moved to Bayswater, London. His wife was a talented embroiderer who worked for Morris & Co. They had one daughter, Winifred. In 1867, Holiday visited Italy for the first time and was inspired by the originality of the Renaissance artists he saw on display there. In 1871 he went to Ceylon as part of the " Eclipse Expedition". His astronomical drawings were subsequently published in the national press and attracted great interest. On his return to England in 1872, he commissioned architect Basil Champneys to design a new family home in Branch Hill, Hampstead, which was named "Oak Tree House" - in 1888, William Gladstone himself was a visitor. In January 1874, Holiday was commissioned by Lewis Carroll to illustrate The Hunting of the Snark. He remained friends with the author throughout his life. Holiday's illustration to the chapter The Banker's Fate might contain pictorial references to the etching The Image Breakers by Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder, to William Sidney Mount's painting The Bone Player and to a photograph by Benjamin Duchenne used for a drawing in Charles Darwin's The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals. In 1907, Holiday went to Egypt, painting a series of watercolours and illustrations on ancient Egyptian themes. These were exhibited at "Walker's Gallery", London, in March 1908. In 1907-08, he commissioned the building of a holiday home, Betty Fold in his favourite part of the Lake District. Between 1912 and 1919 he painted the apse of the east end of St Benedict's Church at Bordesley, Birmingham, depicting Christ in Glory with angels, and saints in arcading, below, in Byzantine-style. Holiday had been a socialist throughout his life and, together with his wife Kate and daughter Winifred, supported the Suffragette movement. The family were close acquaintances of Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter, and had organised local suffragette meetings in the Lake District. Holiday died on 15 April 1927 in London, two years after his wife, Kate. His nephew, Gilbert Holiday (1879–1937), son of Sir Frederick Holiday, was also an artist who also has paintings in British collections.

Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity and is Fully Guaranteed to be Certified as Described

Framing

Any framing included in a listing is double matted and framed in a solid wood moulding. We can also frame any pieces not listed as such. Please contact us for pricing. We are usually half the price of a regular framer.

Shipping

Packages are shipped the next business day after confirmed payment is received. If you are making multiple purchases, please request an invoice so that we may combine shipping charges for you.

Guarantee

We guarantee all our listings to be 100% as described

Returns

Returns are accepted up to fourteen days after receiving your purchase. Buyer accepts responsibility for any additional shipping charges.

| Click here for HOT DEALS | Click here for our NO RESERVE AUCTIONS |