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Two figures in a stormy landscape. On the left is a young man dressed in a beret style hat, white ruffed neck collar, jacket, belt and breeches, with stockings and shoes. He looks up toward the cloudy black sky, and holds aloft in his right hand a shepherd's crook. He has his left arm around the waist of a young dark-haired woman in a full-length dress, with short puffed sleeves and low décolletage, a sash and shoes. She also looks up at the sky, her hands clasped in front of her, as if in supplication. In the background on the left is a break in the clouds, with, below the figures, trees and a town. This painting illustrates part of 'The Seasons' by James Thomson – 'Summer', published in 1727: "... Young Celedon And his Amelia were a matchless pair, With equal virtue formed and equal grace, The same, distinguished by their sex alone: Hers the mild lustre of the blooming morn, And his the radiance of the risen day.
Unfortunately, as they wander through the woods, Amelia is struck by lightning and dies: "... not always on the guilty head descends the fatal flash".
Title
Celadon and Amelia in a Storm
Date
1840–1849
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 238.1 x W 145.4 cm
Accession number
NCM 1887-267
Acquisition method
gift from the artist's sister, Miss Elizabeth Wood, 1887
Work type
Painting