Sir Joseph Noel Paton

Sheet of Studies of Fairies, Snails and Poppies for the Painting 'The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania'

About this artwork

This is one of Paton’s numerous preliminary studies for the painting The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania in the Gallery’s collection. The painting illustrates an episode from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, with Oberon and Titania surrounded by a host of smaller fairy creatures – allegedly 165 in all. The figure studies on this sheet, which by family tradition were made from three-dimensional models, relate to the fairies flying above Oberon and Titania, while similar poppies and snails appear in the undergrowth.

Updated before 2020

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Sir Joseph Noel Paton

Sir Joseph Noel Paton