Medium: oil on canvas
Size: 160 x 200 cm; 63 x 78¾ in
This painting shows a scene set in the mid-17th century. One man in a bedroom, wearing clerical clothes, is interrogated by a man wearing a long black cloak, who is brandishing something which had been concealed under the clothing of the cleric. Two soldiers are in attendance, one of whom is preventing a fifth man from entering the room. The subject matter of the painting is very much like that of Master Prynne Searching Archbishop Laud’s Pockets in the Tower (1846); however, this painting is signed and dated 1870.
Called ‘Scene Historique’, this picture was auctioned at Hotel de Ventes VanDerKindere auctioneers, Brussels, on 8 May 2007, fetching EUR 3,500.
It was auctioned at Sothebys, New Bond Street, London, on 6 March 2008 (Sale L08133 ‘British and Continental Pictures’, Lot 43), where it sold for £4,000. A colour image of the painting was published in the sale catalogue.
Eyre Crowe (1824-1910) 