Grace at the Refectory

The naturalism with which George Cattermole RWS (1800–1868) rendered his historical subjects is quite breathtaking—our newly listed 'Grace at the Refectory' by Cattermole this week has allowed us to get up close and personal with his technique, combining watercolour and bodycolour to give the scene real depth.

He was quite a mover and shaker of the Victorian era by all accounts: a vivacious man of intellectual and literary tastes, and an excellent carriage driver. In London he was an intimate of Count d'Orsay and Lady Blessington, a member of the Garrick Club and the Athenaeum. In the late 1830s he moved into a suite of private chambers in The Albany, formerly occupied by Lord Byron. He included among his close friends Robert Browning, Bulwer-Lytton, Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli, Douglas Jerrold, Sir Edwin Landseer, Thomas Macaulay, Daniel Maclise, William Macready, Clarkson Stanfield and William Makepeace Thackeray. In July 1839 he was offered a knighthood...which he modestly declined!