Leutze, Emmanuel “Sir Walter Raleigh Parting with His Wife”

Emmanuel Leutze (1816-1868).  “Sir Walter Raleigh Parting with His Wife.” 

New York: American Art-Union, 1847.  19 3/4 x 14 3/4 (image) plus margins.  Steel engraving by Charles Burt.  Strong impression.  Soiling in margins and series of horizontal stains along publication line below image.  Repaired tear in left hand margin.  Else, fine condition.  Ref.: Mann, p.43.  

Emmanuel Gottlieb Leutze was a member of the National Academy.  He was born in Wurttemburg, Germany, and brought to America as a child.  He lived in Philadelphia where he studied painting under John Rubens Smith and was painting portraits by the time he was twenty.  He traveled to Dusseldorf in 1840 where he became a pupil of Karl Fredrich Lessing and turned to historical subjects.  He did sixteen paintings for the American Art-Union, but only two of his works were chosen for engravings, including this one.  His most famous painting was of “Washington Crossing the Delaware” which has become an American icon.  In the best tradition of history painting the picture conveys an emotion with fine detail given to costume, furniture, and artifacts—especially the books with a map and globe.  The book is probably Raleigh’s History of the World.