Dive In: Provenance II

We’ve already put our toes in the stream of provenance, discussing the idea that we must know the origins as we dive deeper into biblical texts.

Today, we’ll get an example of that through a non-biblical text, an 18^th century painting by William Hogarth entitled The Graham Children. I want you to look carefully at the painting, noticing any details that might contribute to the artist’s intent.

In examining this painting, you are doing the equivalent of studying the design of a biblical text. If you recall, there are three major steps to understanding a work:

• Design
• Provenance
• Idea (meaning)

In examining the design of this painting, you have probably noticed the four children and their setting. Maybe you noticed the baby’s buggy gilded in gold leaf or the silver basket of fruit. Maybe you noticed the clock in the background or the bird in the cage.

This is Hogarth’s most ambitious painting, a life size portrait of the Graham children. Henrietta, 9, wears a blue dress. Richard, playing a serinette (bird organ) is seven. Anna Marie, 5, wears a flower-printed dress and the baby, Thomas, sits in the buggy.

Hogarth, in his choice of objects, illustrates the lifestyle of the family. They obviously had some wealth.

But something you may not know was that Thomas died before the painting was finished. In the early 18^th century, child mortality was high. To symbolize the death of the baby, Hogarth painted a winged cherub with a scythe and an hourglass, mounted on a clock in the background. Two carnations lie beside the child, stalks crossed.

There’s more. Notice the clock on the mantelpiece is decorated with the figure of Cupid holding a scythe and standing beside an hour-glass, symbols of death in that day. We know that the baby was dead when the portrait was painted, and this must account for the sombre references to mortality, at a time when many children died in infancy.

Those items signaled the 18^th century viewer of the baby’s death. The viewer of that day understood that the family had lost baby Thomas.

Take a look at the cat in the background. The cat's claws are out, gripping the furniture. His eyes are focused solely on the fluttering goldfinch. The gilded cage could be seen as the rich protector of the innocent, then released into a dangerous world. Hogarth placed an allegory of the child becoming an adult and having to deal with an altogether more dangerous reality. The cord that cuts the corner of the painting and so obviously supporting the suspended cage, is symbolic of the fragility of life and especially of child mortality.

There’s much more in the painting but I think we’ve made my point, that knowing the provenance helps pry loose meaning. This painting would not have been made today. The loss of children does not hang over us as it did in that day.

The symbols of Hogarth’s painting are foreign to us today. We have to do some research to understand their meaning, but in doing so, and understanding the backdrop of the times, Hogarth’s meaning becomes clearer.

Obviously wealth couldn’t shield a family from the realities of life. In that day, the loss of children was the great equalizer. Rich and poor shared in the grief.

In our discussion, provenance is an important key in revealing meaning. Never settle on the author’s intent until you’ve examined his timeframe.

Remember that provenance is determined by the author’s time, not by the time of the story. We will visit provenance again. In the Old Testament, application often pops out when we understand the time of the text.

What insights did you gain from The Graham Children?