Florence Seth Library at Chancellor's House, Hyde Park Gate, London ca. 1930 oil on canvas National Trust, Belton House, Lincolnshire |
Francis Cadell Interior - The Orange Blind ca. 1927 oil on canvas Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow |
Aidan Savage Lord Chancellor Cave in the River Room ca. 1928 oil on canvas Parliamentary Art Collection, London |
Alec Cobbe Imaginary Self Portrait 1988 acrylic on board National Trust, Hatchlands, Surrey |
Herbert Davis Richter Things Supplementary ca. 1923 oil on canvas Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, Merseyside |
Vanity (I)
The fleet astronomer can bore
And thread the spheres with his quick-piercing mind:
He views their stations, walks from door to door,
Surveys, as if he had designed
To make a purchase there; he sees their dances,
And knoweth long before
Both their full-eyed aspects, and secret glances.
The nimble diver with his side
Cuts through the working waves, that he may fetch
His dearly-earnèd pearl, which God did hide
On purpose from the venturous wretch;
That he might save his life, and also hers
Who with excessive pride
Her own destruction and his danger wears.
The subtle chymic can divest
And strip the creature naked, till he find
The callow principles within their nest:
There he imparts to them his mind,
Admitted to their bed-chamber, before
They appear trim and dressed
To ordinary suitors at the door.
What hath not man sought out and found,
But his dear God? who yet his glorious law
Embosoms in us, mellowing the ground
With showers and frosts, with love and awe,
So that we need not say, "Where's this command?"
Poor man, thou searchest round
To find out death, but missest life at hand.
– George Herbert (1633)
William Collingwood Antique Interior at West Hill House, Hastings 1842 oil on canvas Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool |
John Lavery The van Dyck Room, Wilton 1920 oil on canvas Royal Academy of Arts, London |
Jean de Gaigneron Benedict Nicolson as a Child at Long Barn ca. 1920 oil on board National Trust, Sissinghurst Castle, Kent |
Roger de Grey Interior - Evening 1960 oil on canvas Royal Academy of Arts, London |
William Somerville Shanks Interior ca. 1926 oil on canvas Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool |
Frederick William Elwell My Neighbour's House 1929 oil on canvas Bristol Museum and Art Gallery |
Edward Halliday Evelyn Fitzmaurice, Duchess of Devonshire 1950 oil on canvas National Trust, Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire |
Philip de László Interior with Viscount and Viscountess Lee of Fareham 1925 oil on canvas Courtauld Gallery, London |
Frits Guldbrandsen A Student's Room ca. 1838 oil on paper, mounted on panel Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
Harold Gilman Interior with Mrs Mounter ca. 1916-17 oil on canvas Ashmolean Museum, Oxford |