Charles Cattermole

British, b.1832, d.1900

An Audience

  • Watercolour
  • Presented by S Hurst Seager
  • 160 x 460mm
  • 69/307

Precisely which episode in history is being recorded here is not known, but Charles Cattermole was known to study the buildings, furnishings and costumes of the medieval period in order to record history with complete accuracy. Cattermole worked in water colours with a precise and accurate method, specialising in historical paintings, particularly focusing on Civil War and Stuart hunting scenes. There is an element of theatricality in the poses and positioning of the figures for this interior scene, reflecting, perhaps, that Cattermole also worked on theatre design. His work is in the collection of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, England. A London painter, Cattermole was the son of an architectural draughtsman and nephew of the artist, George Cattermole, whose interest in painting scenes from English history clearly had an influence on Charles. He exhibited at the New Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of British Artists, as well as the Royal Academy, and became an Associate of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours in 1864.