Page:Cyclopedia of painters and paintings - Volume I.djvu/371

 painter; son and pupil of Charles Cope, landscape painter, and student in Royal Academy schools. After making studies in Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome, and Naples, he returned in 1836 to England. Received in 1843 prize of £300 for his cartoon First Trial by Jury; elected an A.R.A. in 1843, and R.A. in 1848. He has painted eight frescos in the Houses of Parliament. Is a fine etcher. Works: Nereids (1836); He ever Liveth to make Intercession (1840); Whoever shall Give to Drink (1844); Last Days of Wolsey (1848); King Lear (1850); Royal Prisoners at Carisbrook (1855); Pilgrim Fathers (1857); Shylock and Jessica (1867); Disciples at Emmaus (1868); Yes or No? (1873); Taming the Shrew (1874); Anne Page and Slender (1875); Selecting Pictures for the Royal Academy Exhibition (1876); Bianca's Lovers (1878); A Country Club (1879); Far Away Thoughts (1881).—Art Journal (1869), 177; Sandby, ii. 181; Graves, 53.

COPHETUA AND THE BEGGAR-MAID, Burne-Jones, London; canvas, H. 12 ft. × 9 ft. Illustration of the legend of the African King Cophetua, who wedded the beggar-maid, as told in the old ballad in Percy's Reliques (I. ii. 6), and more lately by Tennyson in "The Beggar-Maid." The beggar-maid, Penelophon, clad in a simple robe of gray stuff, with her bare feet timourously drawn under her, is sitting, half dismayed and half content, on the purple cushions of the throne, while the king, radiant in steel armour and jewelled robes, sits on the step at her feet, holding the crown in his hands and looking up into her face with adoring love and wonder; above, in a gallery, two chorister boys are making music. Grosvenor Gallery, 1884.—London Times, May 6, 1884, 6.

COPLEY, JOHN SINGLETON, born in Boston, Mass., July 3, 1737, died in London, Sept. 9, 1815. Although Copley is spoken of as self-taught, there can be no doubt that his talent, which showed itself at an early age, was fostered and trained by his stepfather, Peter Pelham, the well-known painter and engraver, who died in 1751, about which time Copley began to paint portraits. One of these, of General Brattle (W. Appleton, Boston), has more historical than artistic value. Improving through steady practice and observation, he soon rose above the standard of Smybert and Blackburn, and painted a series of portraits of members of the leading Boston families, in a hard, dry style, which is redeemed by the undeniably well-bred air given to his sitters, and his very clever manner of treating dress accessories, such as silks, satins, etc. The portrait of his half-brother, Henry Pelham, known as the Boy and the Squirrel (James Amory, Boston), was sent to England and exhibited (1760) at Somerset House, and was much commended by West and other good judges. In 1774 he went to Rome, and in 1775-76 settled in London and began a career of uninterrupted success. In 1777 he was elected an A.R.A., and in 1779 R.A. Patronized by the royal family and the nobility, he executed many portraits and historical pictures, such as the Death of Chatham (1779-80), Death of Major Pierson (1783), Siege of Gibraltar (1789-90), National Gallery; the Daughters of George III. (Buckingham Palace), the so-called Family Picture (Charles Amory), the painter's masterpiece, the Red-Cross Knight (1788, S. G. Dexter), Mrs. Derby as St. Cecilia (W. Appleton), and Mrs. D. D. Rogers (1789, H. B. Rogers), which may be regarded as one of his best, if not his very best portrait. Copley's best works were collected by his son, Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst, and many of them have been engraved.—A. T. Perkins, Life, etc., of J. S. Copley (1873); Memorial History of Boston (1881), iv.; Mrs. M. B. Amory, Life of J. S. Copley (1882); Cunningham (1832); Tuck