Currently not on view
Passive Obedience,
ca. 1802–05
James Barry, 1741–1806; born Cork, Ireland; died London, England
x1942-85
The Irish history painter and theoretician James Barry studied in Italy and worked primarily in London, where he was appointed a professor at the Royal Academy in 1782—only to be expelled in 1799 for his tempestuous behavior and outspoken political views. Throughout much of his career he praised monarchs as patrons of the arts, yet in his final years he feared political violence over the failure of the British government to provide Catholic emancipation following the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland in 1800. In this drawing, a king—aided by an Anglican bishop—unfurls twin banners, reading "Passive Obedience" and "Divine Right," while a virtuous figure supported by an angel recoils from the chaos and corruption that surrounds him.
Information
Title
Passive Obedience
Dates
ca. 1802–05
Maker
Medium
Pen and brown ink with grey and brown wash over graphite and red chalk
Dimensions
sheet: 42.3 x 58.3 cm (16 5/8 x 22 15/16 in.)
mount: 48.3 x 63.5 cm (19 x 25 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Frank Jewett Mather Jr.
Object Number
x1942-85
Reference Numbers
Pressly PR43 iv
Culture
Type
Materials
Subject
- "Recent accessions", Record of the Museum of Historic Art, Princeton University 1, no. 2 (1942): p. 11., p. 11
- William L. Pressly, The life and art of James Barry, (New Haven: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, 1981)., cat. no. 28; pp. 181-183, fig. 130
- William L. Pressly, James Barry: the artist as hero, (London: published by the order of the Trustees by the Tate Gallery Publications Dept., 1983)., cat. no. 92; pp. 29-31
- William L. Pressly, "On classic ground: James Barry's "Memorials" of the Italian landscape", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 54, no. 2 (1995): p. 12–28., p. 25, fig. 15
