Finding of the Body of Harold, from "The Art Journal," opposite p. 364
Engraver Edward Richard Whitfield British
After William Hilton British
Printer George Virtue British
Not on view
Queen Edith, accompanied by monks, discovers the body of her husband, King Harold, on the battlefield at night (he had been killed at the Battle Hastings in 1066 by an invading Norman army led by William the Conqueror). The queen stands and looks in horror at the nearly naked form as a monk bends over the lifeless body. Whitfield's print is based on Hilton's painting of 1834 (Tate Britain). The print was published as part of "The Vernon Gallery," a series of steel engravings issued over time by the "Art Union Journal," reproducing paintings and sculptures in Robert Vernon's Gallery of British Art. The series was announced in December 1847 and the paintings were later given by Vernon to the National Gallery and Tate Gallery.
