A scene from Horace Walpole's Gothic novel The castle of Otranto, with the character Frederic standing on the right in an oratory, leaning slightly backwards with a shocked expression on his face. Across the room from him on the left stands a skeleton wrapped in a hermit's cowl, its fleshless face visible within the hood and its bony legs and feet sticking out from under the cloak. Behind the skeleton is an altar on which two tall candlesticks and an open book sit; beyond the altar is a crucifix within an arched alcove. Behind Frederic on the right are columns with armorial shields mounted above; an arched window, a bench, and a painting on the wall complete the background
Description:
Title devised by curator., Unsigned; artist not identified., Date of production supplied by curator., and Mounted opposite page 223 in an extra-illustrated copy of: Walpole, H. The castle of Otranto. Parma : Printed by Bodoni, for J. Edwards, London, MDCCXCI [1791].
Subject (Name):
Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797.
Subject (Topic):
Chapels, Interiors, Altars, Crucifixes, and Skeletons
A scene from Horace Walpole's Gothic novel The castle of Otranto, with the character Frederic seen in the background on the left, peering around a half-open door into an oratory. In the foreground on the right is a figure, completely hidden within a hooded cloak, kneeling at an altar. An open book and a crucifix sit on the altar; light streams in from the window behind it on the right. On the back wall of the room a statue resides within a raised alcove; a chair sits below the statue, and a framed picture hangs on the wall beside it.
Description:
Title devised by cataloger., Unsigned; artist attribution and date from signature "F. Miller 1802" on similar drawing bound in the same volume., and Bound in after page 222 in an extra-illustrated copy of: Walpole, H. The castle of Otranto. Parma : Printed by Bodoni, for J. Edwards, London, MDCCXCI [1791].