After the Trial, Antonio receiving the Congratulations of his Friends, 1879. Watercolour and gouache on paper, 32 x 20 inches, (81.3 x 50.8 cm). Private collection. Click on image to enlarge it.
This is the first and one of the most important of a large series of watercolours based on incidents from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice that Wallis exhibited at the Old Water-Colour Society. This particular play by Shakespeare obviously had a great attraction for Wallis and this subject is taken from Act IV, Scene 1. In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock a Jewish moneylender agrees to loan money to Bassanio on the credit of Antonio. Shylock, suspicious of Antonio, sets the security as a pound of Antonio's flesh. When Antonio's merchant ventures fail and he is unable to raise the money to pay off Bassanio's loan, Shylock demands the pound of flesh in payment. Nerissa and Portia, disguised as a court clerk and doctor of civil law respectively, arrive at the court to argue on Antonio’s behalf. Gratiano, Bassanio, the Duke, and Portia try to dissuade Shylock, but to no avail. Portia reminds the court, however, that the agreement calls for no blood to be shed and exactly one pound to be taken, or Shylock would be guilty of not following the bond himself. Shylock, realizing this is impossible, recants and simply requests the 9,000 ducats owed him. Portia then points out that Shylock is himself guilty of a crime, namely, conspiring to kill Antonio. As punishment, the Duke and Antonio decide that Shylock must give half his belongings to the court, but can keep the other half for himself providing he promises to give all his remaining wealth to his daughter and son-in-law Lorenzo upon his death. Shylock must also become a Christian and, with no other choice, Shylock agrees to these terms.
This work was heavily influenced by Venetian early Renaissance painting, in this case particularly by Carpaccio, who was a great favourite with the Pre-Raphaelites including Wallis. The reviewer for the Pall Mall Gazette expressed the opinion that this watercolour was amongst the best in the 1879 exhibition:
By far the most important contributor to the Exhibition of the Society of Painters in Water Colours, as regards at least subject and size of pictures, is Mr. Henry Wallis. One of his pictures, No. 14, represents Antonio receiving the congratulations of his friends after the trial. There is not in Shakespeare’s play a scene exactly answering to the situation, but the chief characters may without difficulty be recognized. In the centre of the picture we see the ‘royal merchant’ coming down a flight of steps, and receiving the congratulations of a crowd of friends, in a very dignified attitude. Among the latter are conspicuous some senators, or legal dignitaries, clad in the red robes which Mr. Wallis loves to paint. The other numerous figures in the picture, composing the crowd of lawyers, friends, and attendants which issues from the court, are grouped in an artistic way; but there is little of the dramatic life which such a scene might call forth – in other words, the design is too ornamental to be interesting. [12]
The reviewer for The Architect commented upon Wallis’s adoption of Shakespearean subjects:
Shakespeare used to be the especial topic of the President [John Gilbert], but the recent election of Mr. Henry Wallis has brought a competitor. This artist in every way brings novelty to the Gallery; his brilliant isolated colouring, his mode of composition, which delights in architectural accessories and dividing of masses after the example of the Venetians and the missal painters, are individualities quite refreshing. After the Trial (14), from the ‘Merchant of Venice,’ is a new reading from the ordinary stage version; Mr. Wallis’s Antonio, who descends the staircase welcomed by outflung hands of congratulation, is not saturnine and sad of apparel, but a grave and dignified gentleman, senatorial in manner and costume, noble of visage, who smiles quietly with a look of comfort at escape from horror that has yet left its mark in the just tremulous mouth. The stairs and court swarm with courtiers, gay as butterflies, chattering, laughing, and congratulating; above, in the council chamber, the golden-draped doge is seen dimly, giving a hand to the kneeling Portia. As a study of colour this is as bold a piece of work as we ever saw; the frank splendour of the figures is thrown into balance by the expedient of marble buildings and pillars of bright green (258).”
Not every critic was totally impressed by this work, however. The critic of The Spectator felt the composition lacked dramatic impact and the colour was a little too intense:
The first work we shall notice is No. 14 by Henry Wallis, a scene from the Merchant of Venice, - Antonio receiving the congratulations of his friend after the trial. In dramatic interest the picture is a total failure; one neither knows nor cares which is Antonio, or what the friend is saying to him; in arrangement it is clever, and in colour interesting. It is remarkable in the present exhibition, as being almost the only attempt, and it is more or less successful in its endeavor, to make a piece of paper valuable by the mere beauty of its colouring. The colour is sometimes a little sharp (this word really expresses it, it seems to set your teeth slightly on edge), as, for instance, in the gold capitals and the green, serpentine, marble pillars; but, on the whole, it is rich and glowing, though Mr. Wallis has not quite seized the beauties of crimson and scarlet, yet he has gone very near to doing so.
Bibliography
“Spring Exhibitions – The Water-Colour Society.” The Architect XXI (May 3, 1879): 258-59.
Lessens, Ronald and Dennis T. Lanigan. Henry Wallis. From Pre-Raphaelite Painter to Collector/Connoisseur. Woodbridge: ACC Art Books, 2019, cat. 125, 146-47.
“Exhibition of the Society of Painters in Water Colours.” The Pall Mall Gazette (May 2, 1879): 12.
“Wanted – A Water-Colour Exhibition (The Old Society),” The Spectator 52 (June 7, 1879): 725-27.
Bibliography
Last modified 16 October 2022