Edward Matthew Ward, RA

(British, 1816-1879)

The Last Sleep of Argyll

Footnotes

This work is accompanied by the book listed in the literature below. In this, a letter dated 9 June 1868 from the artist to John Hick, Esq., is reproduced, in which he states that this work was the original study for the large fresco in the Houses of Parliament painted in 1854. As such, the present work can be dated to 1853-1854.

Provenance
John Hick, Esq., Mytton Hall, Lancashire (acquired directly from the artist).

Exhibited
Leeds, National Exhibition of Works of Art, 1968, no. 1413, the exhibition catalogue states 'Original study for the fresco in the Houses of Parliament'.

Literature
Catalogue of the principal paintings, drawings, books, bronzes, &c., at Mytton Hall, the residence of John Hick, Esq., London, 1893, illustrated p. 41.

In the present work, the Covenanter, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, is depicted sound asleep as his jailer and the castle governor enter his cell on the morning of his execution. For his support of the 1685 Monmouth Rebellion in opposition of King James II & VII, Argyll was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle and sentenced to be executed on 30th June 1685.

Such was the strength of Argyll's Christian faith, that it was said that on the day of his execution he showed no fear whatsoever. A letter of the period written by Argyll states:

'What shall I say in this great day of the Lord, wherein, in the midst of a cloud, I find a fair sunshine. I can wish no more for you, but that the Lord may comfort you, and shine upon you as he doth upon me, and give you that same sense of His love in staying in the world, as I have in going out of it.'¹

The edifying nature of this work is enriched by the various objects placed in the room, most notably the classic imagery of memento mori imbued by the bible and clock sitting on Argyll's bedside table. But also, one can draw parallels between the last supper seen in the background and the last letter in the foreground.

At least two other versions of this subject were painted by the artist, one being in the collection of the Birmingham Museums Trust (no. 1960P43) and the other in the collection of the Salford Museum & Art Gallery (no. 1877-13). Although unclear which version the entry refers to, Ward exhibited this subject at the Royal Academy in 1854 (no. 403).

The Royal Academy entry of 1854 is accompanied by the following text:

'So effectually had religious faith and hope, cooperating with natural courage and equanimity, composed his spirits, that on the very day on which he was to die, he dined with appetite, conversed gaiety at table, and after his last meal, lay down, as he was wont, to take a short slumber, in order that his body and mind might be in full vigour when he should mount the scaffold. At this time one of the Lords of the Council, who had probably been bred a Presbyterian, and had been seduced by interest to join the oppressing the church of which he had once been a member, came to the castle, with a message from his brethren, and demanded admittance to the Earl. It was answered that the Earl was asleep. The privy councillor thought that this was a subterfuge, and insisted on entering. The door of the cell was softly opened, and there lay Argyle on the bed, sleeping in his irons the placid sleep of infancy. The conscience of the renegade smote him.'

¹ J. Willcock, A Scots Earl in Covenanting Times: Being Life and Times of Archibald, 9^th Earl of Argyll, 1905.