Cromwell, Protector of the Vaudois (1877) is a painting by Ford Madox Brown which depicts Oliver Cromwell in conversation with John Milton dictating a letter to Andrew Marvell protesting at the Piedmont Easter massacre (1655), an attack on the Vaudois (Waldenses), a persecuted Protestant sect in Piedmont, northern Italy. It was Brown's second Cromwell painting, following Cromwell on his Farm (1875). The Last of England, 1855 Ford Madox Brown (April 16, 1821 – October 6, 1893) was an English painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. ... Mona Lisa, Oil on wood panel painting by Leonardo da Vinci. ... Occupying three buildings, including what was originally the Royal Manchester Institution designed by Sir Charles Barry in 1824, the Manchester Art Gallery houses the civic art collection of Manchester, England. ... Manchester (pronounced ) is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... The Last of England, 1855 Ford Madox Brown (April 16, 1821 – October 6, 1893) was an English painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. ... Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658) was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. ... For other persons named John Milton, see John Milton (disambiguation). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The Canton of Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland located in the southwestern part of the country. ... For other uses, see Piedmont (disambiguation). ...

Historical background

After a series of massacres and disposessions of Vaudois in Italy, Cromwell organised international action on their behalf, writing letters, raising financial contributions for victims and threatening military action. During his lifetime the persecutors reined back their attacks, but after his death the Vaudois were repeatedly persecuted. Milton's sonnet On the Late Massacre in Piemont ("Avenge O Lord thy slaughtered saints") was also written at this time about the massacres.

Painting

Following the publication of Thomas Carlyle's Oliver Cromwell's letters and speeches, with elucidations (1845), Cromwell had been regularly portrayed in a a heroic light in British art. His actions with regard to the Vaudois had been illustrated several times. Brown's painting differs because of its highly dynamic composition designed to stress the relationship between Cromwell as a man of action and Milton as a powerful intellecual force, with Marvell energetically poised to execute their combined wills. In this respect the painting is a development of the central theme of Brown's earlier painting Work, but in this case emphasises the work of a "power elite" rather than ordinary manual labour. Cromwell's pose, splayed across the desk, is a development of earlier imagery in which Cromwell had been depicted as a rough or unceremonious figure.^[1] His contained energy is emphasised by the precariously balanced desk, supported on a curved base with small stabilising feet. Milton's gesture is similarly transitory, finger raised, while the cropped, half-obscured figure of Marvell holds his pen ready waiting. The most familiar view of Carlyle is as the bearded sage with a penetrating gaze. ... Work (1852-1865) is a painting by Ford Madox Brown, which is generally considered to be his most important work. ...

Notes

1. ^ Trodd, C, Culture and Energy, Ford Madox Brown and the Cromwellian grotesque, Victorian Culture and the Idea of the Grotesque, 1998, pp68-73