Fitzwilliam Painting short-listed for the Greatest Painting in Britain

The shortlist, which was announced recently, consists of ten paintings chosen from around the country by a panel of experts following nominations from members of the public.

The painting is considered Brown’s masterpiece and was inspired by the emigration to Australia of his friend Thomas Woolner, a sculptor and one of the original members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The models for the two main figures are Brown and his wife Emma.

Ford Madox Brown was never made a formal member of the Pre-Raphaelite group but was closely associated with them and was an early mentor of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. His paintings are immaculate in detail and finish but because of the painstaking attention to detail and time he spent on each one he only produced a limited number of finished paintings and failed to earn a decent living from his work during his lifetime.

‘The Last of England’, in the Fitzwilliam Museum, was completed in 1860 and is an autograph repetition, about half the size, of the original of 1852-5 in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, with slight variations in colouring. It is typical of the type of innovative genre paintings being produced in Victorian Britain.

The work of the Pre-Raphaelites and their circle initially caused outrage with their heavily religious and realist themes which were very different to the epic historical paintings still favoured at the time. It was eventually embraced by the burgeoning middle class as part of the Aesthetic movement and their work remains popular today.

The painting is part of the permanent display at the Fitzwilliam Museum, admission is free and opening times are Tuesday to Saturday 10am - 5pm Sunday 12 noon - 5pm, Bank Holiday Mondays 12 noon - 5pm.