About this artwork
This is an extremely unusual portrayal of the young Josephine, later wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress of France. She was born on the Caribbean island of Martinique into a French colonial family that owned a sugar plantation. Her extraordinary destiny was predicted by a local West Indian fortune-teller. Wilkie was apparently familiar with this story as early as 1806. Thirty years later this ambitious history picture was commissioned by the English financier and politician John Abel Smith.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Sir David Wilkie (1785 - 1841) Scottish
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title:Josephine and the Fortune-teller
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date created:Dated 1837
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:211.00 x 158.00 cm; Framed: 223.00 x 169.50 x 5.30 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1949
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accession number:NG 2114
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gallery:
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depicted:
Sir David Wilkie
Sir David Wilkie
Wilkie achieved international recognition for his highly original paintings of events and episodes from contemporary life. His skills as a narrator were evident in the facial expressions and poses of his characters, and in the informative detail he included. He was born in Fife, the son of a rural...
