Cleveland Museum of Art

Cordelia Parting from her Sisters

Ford Madox Brown

Date

1854

Medium

pen and oil on paper on panel

Culture

England, 19th century

Department

Modern European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Reimagining English history was one way that Victorian (1837–1901) artists rooted themselves during a period of tremendous social and political change and life-altering technological advances. Ford Madox Brown’s expressive and vividly colored sketch for an unrealized project takes a story from Britain’s most famous playwright, Shakespeare. The artist chooses the dramatic moment when King Lear’s daughter Cordelia parts ways with her sisters. In 1861, Ford Madox Brown became a founding member of William Morris’s decorative arts company. Besides painting, he also designed stained glass and furniture.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.