The Death of Buckingham [Death of George Villiers, First Duke of Buckingham], by David Wilkie Wynfield (1837-1887). 1871. Oil on canvas, 38 1/8 x 60 1/4 inches (97.0 x 153.1 cm). Collection of National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, accession no. 307.12-1. Image courtesy of NGV Collection Online. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
This was probably Wynfield's most acclaimed work and was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1871, no. 114, and later that same year at the International Exhibition in London, no. 48. Wynfield later sent it to the International Exhibition held in Melbourne, Australia in 1880–81, no. 250, where it was awarded the Second Order of Merit and was purchased by the National Gallery of Victoria. The nature of the subject is what had probably delayed its purchase until this time. When it was shown at the Royal Academy it was accompanied in the catalogue by these lines taken from John Forster's biography of Sir John Eliot:
Most piteous is that which remains to be told. The hall had been emptied by the rush that filled the court, and the body of the murdered duke, lifted from the ground upon the table, lay there alone… But the solitude could have lasted only an instant, when out upon the gallery-landing stood two distracted women, whose appalling shrieks rent the air. The wife of the duke's brother was staying with them, and at the first shock and confusion had rushed out of her own room into that of the duchess, and fallen on the floor. The duchess, who at the time was pregnant, was still in bed; but as her women lifted Lady Anglesea, she started up with some horrible perception of the truth, and, in her night-gear as she was, ran out into the gallery, followed by her sister, where they might behold the blood of their dearest lord gushing from him. [170-71]
The painting depicts the murdered body of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, laid out on a table. To the left his wife looks on in anguish from the landing on the stairs, comforted by her sister Lady Anglesea. The knife used to murder the duke occupies a prominent position in the left foreground. Buckingham was the favourite minister of King Charles I, but he had become extremely unpopular when it was felt he had begun to influence the monarch for his own personal gain. As a minister Buckingham was a failure at both his foreign and military policies. John Felton, a lieutenant in the English army, assassinated Buckingham as "an enemy to the kingdom" on August 23, 1628 outside the Greyhound Inn in Portsmouth. Buckingham had gone to Portsmouth to take command of a naval force intended to relieve the port of La Rochelle, a Huguenot stronghold. Buckingham's death was universally popular, particularly with the citizens of London.
When Wynfield's picture was shown at the Royal Academy it was extensively reviewed. The reviewer for The Spectator praised Wynfield for his restraint in his handling of this subject: "Another clever picture, where horror is the prevailing sentiment, is Mr. Wynfield's Death of Buckingham (114). Where there was so much temptation for a theatrical exaggeration the artist has exercised a wholesome restraint" (767). The critic of The Art Journal found Wynfield's use of chiaroscuro to be dramatic and his handling careful:
Mr. Wynfield this year seems indeed to be making good lost ground: his two contributions are an advance; and, indeed, we came with some little surprise upon the work here before us – The Death of Buckingham (114). The picture is most impressive, as was the historic tragedy depicted. George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham, has been murdered, and the body "lifted from the ground upon the table, lies there alone." We were told that "the solitude could have lasted only an instant, when out upon the gallery-landing stood two distracted women, whose appalling shrieks rent the air."" The treatment of light in shade is eminently dramatic – the death chamber is in darkness, but bright light, as of morning or noonday, streams in at the open door. How far the artist can reconcile this treatment with historic facts seems doubtful; indeed, the passage he quotes states expressly that one of the ladies was "in her night gear." Yet daylight dawns on the corpse, otherwise it would be invisible. It may be further objected that the murdered duke does not fill his clothes; indeed, already the body is a ghost, and without tailory would be nowhere. The handling throughout is most careful, and yet not masterly. On the whole, the picture is commendable. [152]
F. G. Stephens in The Athenaeum felt the painting was powerful and effective but questioned its colouring:
Among the most effective pictures here is Mr. D. W. Wynfield's Death of Buckingham (George Villiers, First Duke) (114). Its title is not strictly correct, for the corpse of the statesman lies on a table, where, according to history, it remained after Felton had stabbed his victim. The table stands in a dark place at the foot of a flight of stairs, so that the effect is gloomy; while an open door shows sunlight without. On a landing of the stairs two female relatives of the duke appear in violent agitation; the one restrains the other in her purpose of approaching the dead. These figures, not less than that of Buckingham, are well designed, and the story is perfectly told. The contrast between the dead and the living persons is vigorously sustained. The effect is given with considerable power: to us it appears that the picture suffers from an excess of brown colouring; lacking greys, it misses delicacy and brilliancy, qualities which are by no means inseparable from the gloom which is well chosen for the theme" (596).
The Illustrated London News mentioned this work even prior to it being shown at the Royal Academy exhibition: "Wynfield may, it is said, be expected to be well represented. A dramatic picture by the last-named artist represents the Duchess of Buckingham swooning as she gazes on her dead lord stretched out in the green baize of the council chamber" (346). This periodical later reviewed the picture when it was shown at the Academy, feeling the work was impressive but its colouring could have been improved:
Mr. Wynfield evinces a wide range of power from his richly-coloured and handsome Bride (143) to his gloomy and tragic picture of the Death of the First Duke of Buckingham (114). The body of the Duke lies on a table, where it was placed while Felton, the assassin, was being sought for and identified. On the floor is the knife which inflicted the fatal stab, and which is still preserved at Newnham Paddox. The Duchess, at the top of the stairs leading to her bedroom above, is swooning into the arms of Lady Anglesea, who brought her the news of her husband's murder. The story is told impressively, yet not repulsively; but Mr. Wynfield's colouring would gain in artistic 'quality' if his hues were less monotonous. [498]
Tom Taylor in The Portfolio in 1871, when reviewing Wynfield's career to date, particularly singled out this picture:
This year Mr. Wynfield has returned to his graver ground. His picture of the murdered Buckingham, laid out stark on the table in the suddenly-deserted chamber of the George Inn, Portsmouth, has, with good reason, made a very decided mark; for gravity and the absence of all sensationalism and bad taste in the treatment of a subject so readily lending itself to both, are not such common qualities in an Academy Exhibition that they are likely to be overlooked. Whether they are likely to be appreciated by purchasers, and to be as much rewarded in pudding as in praise, is another question. [87]
The painting has much in common structurally with Henry Wallis's The Death of Christopher Marlowe, which Wynfield likely would have seen when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1862, no. 80. In this picture a group of three female figures look down from the landing on the stairs to the upper left while Marlowe's prone body lies stretched out on the floor in the right foreground. Wynfield’s painting, in turn, may have influenced his friend W. F. Yeames’s The Death of Amy Robsart, exhibited seven years later at the Royal Academy in 1878. This work features two male courtiers at the top of the stairs looking down at the dead body of Amy Robsart sprawled at the base of the stairs below.
Bibliography
Art. The Royal Academy." The Spectator XLIV (24 June 1871): 767-68.
Death of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham). NGV Collection Online. Web. 12 December 2023.
Forster, John. Sir John Eliot. A Biography. 2 Vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872.
"Pictures for the Forthcoming Academy Exhibitions." The Illustrated London News LVIII (8 April 1871): 346.
"Royal Academy Exhibition." The Illustrated London News LVIII (20 May 1871): 498.
"The Royal Academy." The Art Journal New Series X (1 June 1871): 149-54.
Stephens, Frederic George. "The Royal Academy." The Athenaeum No. 2272 (13 May 1871): 596-97.
Taylor, Tom. "English Painters of the Present Day. XXVI – D. W. Wynfield." The Portfolio II (1871): 84-87.
Created 12 December 2023