Sir James Thornhill and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 1705

Abstract

In recent years the work of Sir James Thornhill has been attracting a new interest. It has received considerable attention from art historians in their endeavour to place Thornhill in his rightful niche in the history of English painting since he has, up till now, stood in the shadow of his son-in-law, Hogarth. They also indicate, at the same time, how strongly he was influenced by his masters, Verrio and Laguerre, whom he superseded as Historical Painter to the Crown during a wave of cultural nationalism. The paintings that have been the especial study of the historians are, however, those large-scale historical and decorative works to be seen, for example, in the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, or on the walls and ceilings of great houses, such as Hampton Court Palace, Greenwich Hospital or Blenheim. Almost completely neglected are James Thornhill’s designs for the theatre, and yet one can hardly recall a major work of his which does not have about it something highly theatrical. Indeed his characteristic method, learned from Verrio and Laguerre, of grouping his characters either in an architectural or landscape setting, and then enclosing his decoration within an architectural frame so closely resembling a proscenium arch, makes the hunting down of works designed specifically for the theatre extremely difficult. All his major works, for which he was honoured with a knighthood and the distinction of Sergeant Painter, were undertaken after his theatrical debut at the age of 29, for his first known commission was to design the settings for Thomas Clayton’s opera, Arsinoe, Queen of Cyprus, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in January 1705.