Oil paint on mahogany
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Robert Vernon
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/george-lance-321" aria-label="More by George Lance" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">George Lance</a>
Red Cap
Presented by Robert Vernon 1847
animals: actions
animals: birds
animals: mammals
arch
architecture
basket
clothing and personal items
curtain
death
democracy - Phrygian bonnet
duck
emotions, concepts and ideas
features
fertility
food and drink
furnishings
hat, cap
jug
meat
monkey
objects
politics
symbols and personifications
table cloth
universal concepts
vegetable, cabbage
vegetable, onion
vessels and containers
<p>During his lifetime, Lance was regarded as a worthy British successor to the great seventeenth and eighteenth century Dutch and Flemish still life painters. The strongly lit subject matter framed by an arched opening is directly inspired by the work of these masters. The action of the monkey - whose hat gives the picture its title - is inspired by human prototypes: he is undecided whether to eat first and play afterwards or vice versa. 'Monkeyana' pictures, in which the behaviour of monkeys is linked to human foibles, had a vogue in the early 1800s. Lance has given the monkey the red cap of liberty. The reference would have taken on particular significance in 1848, the 'year of revolutions' in Europe.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint mahogany
The Red Cap
support: 448 × 508 mm
frame: 565 × 622 × 72 mm
Presented by <a href="/search?gid=999999978" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Robert Vernon</a> 1847
<p>During his lifetime, Lance was regarded as a  worthy British successor to the great seventeenth  and eighteenth century Dutch and Flemish <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/still-life" title="Glossary definition for 'Still life'"><span>still  life</span></a> painters. The strongly lit subject matter  framed by an arched opening is directly inspired  by the work of these masters. The action of the  monkey - whose hat gives the picture its title -  is inspired by human prototypes: he is undecided  whether to eat first and play afterwards or vice  versa. 'Monkeyana' pictures, in which the  behaviour of monkeys is linked to human foibles,  had a vogue in the early 1800s. Lance has given  the monkey the red cap of liberty. The reference  would have taken on particular significance in  1848, the 'year of revolutions' in Europe.</p>
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2004-08-18T00:00:00
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animals: actions animals: birds animals: mammals arch architecture basket clothing and personal items curtain death democracy - Phrygian bonnet duck emotions, concepts and ideas features fertility food and drink furnishings hat, cap jug meat monkey objects politics symbols and personifications table cloth universal concepts vegetable, cabbage vegetable, onion vessels and containers