Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/ford-madox-brown-65" aria-label="More by Ford Madox Brown" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Ford Madox Brown</a>
Chaucer at Court Edward III
Purchased 1906
actions: expressive
actions: processes and functions
adults
agriculture and fishing
animals: mammals
architecture
aristocrat
armour
arts and entertainment
battlement
boy
cardinal
castle
Chaucer, Geoffrey
Chaucer, Geoffrey, ‘Legend of Custance’
children
clothing and personal items
courtier
crowd
crown
de Bohun, Lady
dog - non-specific
dress
Edward III, King
Edward, Prince of Wales, ‘Black Prince’
farmland
features
food and drink
fountain
Froissart, Jean
fruit, orange
furnishings
garden structures
girl
groups
hat
helmet
Henry IV, King
history
hood
jester
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster
Kent, Joan, Countess of, ‘Fair Maid of Kent’
king
landscape
lectern
leisure and pastimes
listening
literary
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
man
Margaret, Princess
medieval
military
music and entertainment
musician
named individuals
objects
Oxford, Robert de Vere, Earl of
Pembroke, Earl of
people
period: Middle Ages
periods and styles
Perrers, Alice
ploughing
poet
politics and society
prince
recital
religious
religious and ceremonial
Richard II, King
Roet, Phillipa
royalty and social rank
shield
Sir John Froissart
sunshine
sword
talking
terrace
Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester
throne
Warwick, Countess of
weapons
weather
woman
work and occupations
<p>This picture is a replica of Ford Madox Brown’s largest and most ambitious painting, exhibited in 1851. It was significant for its portrayal of natural sunlight and was his first attempt ‘to carry out the notion ... of treating the light and shade absolutely, as it exists at any one moment, instead of approximately or in generalized style’. This pursuit of ‘truth to nature’ was consistent with Pre-Raphaelite ideals, as was his careful workmanship. The picture’s subject, Geoffrey Chaucer, reflects the growing popularity with artists of English literature instead of more conventional classical myths and biblical tales.</p><p><em>Gallery label, November 2016</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
12 July 2003 – 15 August 2004
2004-08-15
12 July 2003 – 28 September 2003
2003-09-28
2003-07-12
Art Gallery of Western Australia (Perth, Australia)
25 October 2003 – 15 February 2004
2004-02-15
2003-10-25
Dunedin Public Art Gallery (Dunedin, New Zealand)
http://www.dunedin.art.museum
14 May 2004 – 15 August 2004
2004-08-15
2004-05-14
Frist Center for the Visual Arts (Nashville, USA)
2003-07-12
The Pre-Raphaelite Dream: Paintings and Drawings from the Tate Collection
Tate partnerships & programmes
1 August 2005 – 30 July 2007
2007-07-30
1 August 2005
2005-08-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2005-08-01
The Pre-Raphaelites
Collection based display
15 September 2007 – 2 December 2007
2007-12-02
15 September 2007 – 2 December 2007
2007-12-02
2007-09-15
Royal Academy of Arts (London, UK)
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk
2007-09-15
Making History: Antiquaries in Britain, 1707 - 2007
Loan-out
3 October 2008 – 19 January 2009
2009-01-19
3 October 2008 – 19 January 2009
2009-01-19
2008-10-03
Musée National du Château de Compiègne (Compiègne, France)
2008-10-03
Napoléon III et Victoria, une visite à l'Exposition universelle de 1855
Loan-out
24 September 2011 – 3 June 2012
2012-06-03
24 September 2011 – 29 January 2012
2012-01-29
2011-09-24
Manchester Art Gallery (Manchester, UK)
http://www.manchestergalleries.org
25 February 2012 – 3 June 2012
2012-06-03
2012-02-25
Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Ghent, Belgium)
http://www.gent.be/
2011-09-24
Ford Madox Brown: Pre-Raphaelite Pioneer
Loan-out
12 September 2012 – 31 January 2014
2014-01-31
17 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-17
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
10 June 2013 – 22 September 2013
2013-09-22
2013-06-10
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
19 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-19
Palazzo Chiablese (Turin, Italy)
2012-09-12
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Exhibition
17 February 2013 – 31 August 2014
2014-08-31
17 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-17
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
10 June 2013 – 13 October 2013
2013-10-13
2013-06-10
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
19 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-19
Palazzo Chiablese (Turin, Italy)
2013-02-17
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Loan-out
7 August 2014 – 24 July 2022
2022-07-24
7 August 2014
2014-08-07
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2014-08-07
Gallery 9
Collection based display
Chaucer at the Court of Edward III
support: 1232 × 991 mm
frame: 1490 × 1263 × 115 mm
Purchased 1906
<div class="text">
<p>The Pre-Raphaelites often sought inspiration from British writers. This painting by Ford Madox Brown celebrates the medieval poet, Geoffrey Chaucer. Brown considered Chaucer to be a poet ‘of the people’, as he was one of the first to write in local English rather than Latin. This picture is a copy of Brown’s largest painting of 1851, intended to decorate the new Houses of Parliament. Brown took great pains to study details from nature. He said, ‘treating the light and shade absolutely, as it exists at any one moment, instead of... in generalised style’.</p>
</div>

Online caption
2023-11-29T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
actions: expressive actions: processes and functions adults agriculture and fishing animals: mammals architecture aristocrat armour arts and entertainment battlement boy cardinal castle Chaucer, Geoffrey Chaucer, Geoffrey, ‘Legend of Custance’ children clothing and personal items courtier crowd crown de Bohun, Lady dog - non-specific dress Edward III, King Edward, Prince of Wales, ‘Black Prince’ farmland features food and drink fountain Froissart, Jean fruit, orange furnishings garden structures girl groups hat helmet Henry IV, King history hood jester John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster Kent, Joan, Countess of, ‘Fair Maid of Kent’ king landscape lectern leisure and pastimes listening literary literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) man Margaret, Princess medieval military music and entertainment musician named individuals objects Oxford, Robert de Vere, Earl of Pembroke, Earl of people period: Middle Ages periods and styles Perrers, Alice ploughing poet politics and society prince recital religious religious and ceremonial Richard II, King Roet, Phillipa royalty and social rank shield Sir John Froissart sunshine sword talking terrace Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester throne Warwick, Countess of weapons weather woman work and occupations