In Time of Peril
1897 painting by Edmund Leighton
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In Time of Peril is an oil on canvas painting by English artist Edmund Leighton, from 1897.[1][2]
| In Time of Peril | |
|---|---|
| |
| Artist | Edmund Leighton |
| Year | 1897 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Pre-Raphaelite |
| Dimensions | 124.5 cm × 168.9 cm (49.0 in × 66.5 in) |
| Location | |
History and description
The painting depicts two young princes who have been spirited away from danger: a young boy who looks back with fear and an infant in his mother's arms. They are huddled under furs with their luxuriously-dressed mother. The royal refugees arrive at a monastery seeking sanctuary, escorted by two men in chainmail (at least one of them a knight, indicated by his coat of arms) and travelling with an assortment of treasure.[2][3][citation needed] Leighton himself had once described the scene in a letter: "laid at the water gate of a monastery in the fourteenth century; the outcome of reading of the shelter afforded by such places to the women, children and treasure, of those who were hard driven, and in danger."[1][citation needed]
According to the Auckland Art Gallery, "it was a canny choice of subject, for dynastic anxieties inevitably lurk in the wake of aging monarchs."[3] This is referring to Queen Victoria and her Diamond Jubilee, the 60th anniversary of her reign, for which Leighton as an Englishman would have been surrounded by celebrations.[2]
Provenance
In Time of Peril debuted at the Royal Academy exhibition of 1897.[3] This painting was acquired by the Mackelvie Trust Collection for the Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand, before 2001. It is not on display as of March 2026.[2][1]
The oil-on-panel study for In Time of Peril was given to the Leighton's daughter, Sophie Helen Blair Harding, and from that time passed down by descent until its next known provenance: sold at auction from Christie's in London on 12 March 2014.[4]