Preparatory study for 'Coriolanus', by 1861

George Frederic Watts RA (1817 - 1904)

RA Collection: Art

A study in red chalk for the central figure group in 'Coriolanus'. Watts was commissioned to paint Act V Scene 3 of Shakespeare's Coriolanus for Bowood House, Wiltshire by Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne in 1861. The work was originally intended to be in fresco but was painted in oil on canvas instead. The composition depicts the Roman general, at his encampment outside the walls of Rome. After being banished from the city for his outspoken behaviour, Coriolanus joined forces with Rome's enemies, the Volscians, and was prepared to lead an attack on his own city until his mother, wife and son persuaded him to relent. He was then killed by the Volscians for betraying their plans.

This study concentrates on the central figure of Coriolanus, with his pleading family on the right. The poses are very close to those in the finished painting, suggesting that this is a later drawing than RA 04/195. The only obvious difference is the pose of Volumnia, Coriolanus's mother. Here, as in the painting, the general's indecision is expressed through his pose, with his body turning towards his family but his face, with eyes cast down, turned towards the Volscians. This pose hints at the tragic outcome of the general's decision, thereby strengthening the sense of dramatic tension.

In a letter to Lady Somers, Watts admitted 'I have great difficulty in working out the subject; it is not a good one. It is impossible to invest the figure of Coriolanus with dignity, for indecision is not noble, and the shape of the space does not lend itself to picturesque treatment, which might compensate for want of grandeur'. As Allen Staley suggests (see references), Watts may also have been uncomfortable with having to stay close to a textual source which had probably been chosen by his patron.

Like several other drawings for Watts's murals and frescoes in this collection, this sheet is fairly small in scale. According to Mary Seton Watts, the artist preferred not to use a cartoon and often worked from small compositional drawings and detailed studies instead (see references). However, the Watts Gallery has fragments of a cartoon for this work and an unfinished cartoon for the first Bowood fresco 'Achilles and Briseis' (see 04/71) suggesting that Watts's methods varied.

There is another red chalk drawing for Watts' Coriolanus at the British Museum (see Tate 1954-5 catalogue, no. 28). There is a watercolour of the design at the Watts Gallery.

Further reading:

Allen Staley et al, Victorian High Renaissance, exhib. cat., Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1978, cat. no. 11, p.66-67

Mary Seton Watts, George Frederic Watts - The Annals of an Artist's Life, London 1912, vol I, p. 195-6, and 150-1