Charles West Cope

Charles West Cope painted Victorian domestic scenes and history pictures, and he is best remembered for his gentle pictures of family life: mothers and children, quiet interiors, moments of prayer or recovery from illness. They are warm in colour and tender in mood.

He was born in Leeds in 1811, trained at Sass’s Academy and the Royal Academy Schools, and studied the Old Masters in Paris and Italy. He was one of the painters chosen to decorate the new Houses of Parliament, where his frescoes include The Burial of Charles I and Speaker Lenthall Asserting the Privileges of the Commons. He became a full member of the Royal Academy in 1848 and was its Professor of Painting from 1867 to 1875. He also helped found the Etching Club.

George Herbert and His Mother is typical of his literary subjects. In pictures like Convalescent, look at how he uses soft window light to set the mood.