(reprinted and revised version)
A casual visitor to Brecon in South Wales, UK, might
be tempted to visit the Brecon Cathedral, parts of which go back over nine
hundred years. One of the exhibits in it, dedicated to a local dignitary, is a
painting called “Peace, and a little child shall lead them.” The artist was
William Strutt (1825-1915) although the caption in the cathedral only names the
donors! It was painted in 1896. The picture was based on Isaiah 11 and the
animals from left to right are in the order as described in scripture.
This has a connection of sorts with the Photodrama
of Creation. Here is one of the original slides from the Photodrama. This was
reproduced in the scenario, and was also later used by Frederick Lardent in his
Bible Student motto card series, as card number L-9. The motto card is not as colorful
and the circle is a bit smaller.
The Photodrama spawned a series of postcards. A set
of 40 cards was advertised in The Watch Tower in 1917 (see reprints page 6077).
Many readers will have seen these sets and they are probably online somewhere
as well. Although the set was numbered 1-40, a couple of later numbers have
been discovered. Below are cards 44 and 47b.
Looking at all the reproductions above, these are actually
four different pictures. It’s a case of spot the difference.
Why did they keep on redrawing (not always very
successfully) this particular picture? It may have been a copyright issue
originally. Strutt complained before he died that his own copyright had expired
and he was making no money from the picture. However, a lithograph of the
picture was widely marketed and numerous homes had it on their walls. Perhaps
that version was still under copyright. However, it still doesn’t explain the Society’s
repeated attempts at pastiche to portray the same scene.
It is not the most important research question in
the world, but a curiosity. And while we are touching on the official
Photodrama series, does anyone have details of any other Photodrama postcards
higher than 40? There is a card numbered 47a which has a woman on a veranda overlooking
a paradise scene with animals captioned PAX, but apart from that and 44 and 47b
reproduced above, I have never seen any others higher than 40.
When the original artist Strutt died his grave
marker carried the inscription “Painter of Peace.” A highly prolific artist in
his day this was to be his main legacy.
3 comments:
Thank you for this interesting article Jerome.
Sorry I can't help you with your question regarding Lardent cards, but I can confirm that no religious group has a monopoly on the vision of Isaiah 11, which has always fascinated me. The Quaker Edward Hicks, for instance, painted The Peaceable Kingdom in 1833 and it can be seen in the Brooklyn Museum (and no doubt found online also). It continues to be important to Quakers (see Susan A. Robson's 'Living with Conflict - A Challenge to a Peace Church', which, incidentally, has a useful section on Jehovah's Witnesses). I suspect earlier depictions of Isaiah 11 can also be found elsewhere. More recently, it is used a a sign for the Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), a faith with roots in the Latter Day Saint movement.
Like the various renderings of the Peace postcard, Edward Hicks is believed to have painted over 60 versions of The Peaceable Kingdom.
Thanks both to Gary and Latecomer for their comments. Obviously all and sundry could do their own version of Isaiah 11. The Edward Hicks version usually found online has a cartoonish quality. At the time the Photodrama came out the world was awash with lithographs of Strutt's version - you just couldn't escape it - it seemed that every parlor had a copy on the wall - hence the assumption that the Watch Tower pastiches with child center stage were a nod towards him.
Post a Comment