Ford Madox Brown: English Painter of Moral and Historical Subjects
This famous image depicts two emigrants leaving England to start a new life abroad. The theme was inspired by the emigration of the sculptor Thomas Woolner, a fellow Pre-Raphaelite, who left for the goldfields of Australia in July 1852. In the same year, 369,000 emigrants left Britain to seek their fortune overseas. British artist Ford Madox Brown (1821-1893) hardly able himself to make a living from his art, was contemplating emigrating to India when he began work on The Last of England, featured here. The circular format is reminiscent of a Renaissance tondo, but also serves to emphasise the couple's unity.
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