The Mandolin (The Mandolin Player)

James Smetham, 1821-89

1866

Oil on canvas

19 ½ x 16 inches (49.5 x 40.7 cm)

Private collection.

[Click on the image to enlarge it.]

The Mandolin must be considered Smetham’s Pre-Raphaelite/Aesthetic Movement masterpiece. It clearly shows the influence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Smetham’s good friend and supporter. As Prettejohn and Gere point out: “The half-length female figure presented close to the picture plane and lacking background perspective, richly attired and mesmeric in beauty, characterised Rossetti’s oeuvre at this date…Two of Rossetti’s studio props feature prominently in the picture: the lute is seen in Rossetti’s Christmas Carol of 1867 and the swansdown scarf is included in The Blue Bower of 1865.