The Death Bed of Robert, King of Naples, from "Illustrated London News"
May 13, 1848
Medium
Wood engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 1/4 × 9 3/16 in. (15.9 × 23.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Donato Esposito, 2018
Accession Number
2018.614.11
Tags
Art Historical Context
This wood engraving, published in the Illustrated London News on May 13, 1848, captures a poignant moment from medieval history: the deathbed of Robert, King of Naples (known as Robert the Wise). Created through a collaboration between painter Alfred Elmore, who likely designed the composition, and engraver Edward Dalziel, the print reflects the Victorian era’s fascination with dramatic historical narratives. The Illustrated London News, one of the first periodicals to combine text with extensive imagery, used such wood engravings to bring distant events vividly to life for a growing middle-cl...
About the Artist
Alfred Elmore|Edward Dalziel (Irish|British) · 1815 |1817 –1881 |1905
Irish, Clonakilty, County Cork 1815–1881 London|British, Wooler, Northumberland 1817–1905 London