THOMAS RALPH SPENCE | THE DISCIPLES OF SAPPHO

Franz Hanfstaengl 

Robert C. Woolley, New York (and sold, his sale, Sotheby's, New York, January 24, 1997, lot 57, illustrated)

Acquired at the above sale 

London, Royal Academy, 1896, no. 599

Royal Academy Pictures, London, 1896, p. 165, illustrated

Painted in 1896, The Disciples of Sappho was shown at that summer’s Royal Academy, where the spirit of Frederic Lord Leighton, who died in January of the same year, pervaded the Summer exhibition rooms. Inspired by the classical architecture, Mediterranean surroundings and antique dress seen in works by Leighton and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, such as his 1881 Sappho and Alcaeus (The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore), Spence depicts the poet Sappho, her hair tied up with red ribbons, in a sweeping classical amphitheater, surrounded by rapt disciples in pastels and virginal whites and classical columns.

Thomas Ralph Spence was born in Yorkshire, though an apprenticeship with a firm of architects brought him to London. While he became known for his landscapes and historical subjects, he continued to use his architectural knowledge in his compositions. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1876 and continued until his death in 1903. He was also responsible for the decorative paintings in Manchester Cathedral.