Home
/
G0682
Paintings: G0682
Title
The last scene in the tragedy of The Gamester
Technique
Oil on canvas
Subject
Character
Beverley : The Gamester
Mrs Beverly : The Gamester
Charlotte : The Gamester
Lewson : The Gamester
Jarvis : The Gamester
Stukely : The Gamester
Mrs Beverly : The Gamester
Charlotte : The Gamester
Lewson : The Gamester
Jarvis : The Gamester
Stukely : The Gamester
Artist
Dimensions
Height: 200cm
Width: 254.6cm
Width: 254.6cm
Provenance
Bush Hotel, Bristol; M. M. Zachary, by whom presented to the Garrick Club, 1833
Other number
RW/CKA 446
Gift 2
Gift 2
Exhibition history
1787 R. A. (426) "The last scene in the Tragedy of the Gamester"
Literature
“Dublin University Magazine” (1854) 43: 394; Fitzgerald, pp. 147-50
The picture shows Act V, scene 3 of Edward Moore’s tragedy, in which Beverley, imprisoned for debt, in despair has taken poison and is dying. The composition is conceived as a ‘Deposition from the Cross,' with Beverley (Pope) as Christ, Mrs Beverley (Mrs Pope) as the Virgin Mary, Charlotte (Wells) as Mary Magdalen, and Lewson (Farren) as St John. The looming figure of Stukely (Inchbald) can be read as the Roman Centurian and Jarvis (Hull) perhaps as Joseph of Aramathea.
Mrs Beverley kneels on the left and is holding her husband's hand. She has a cap on her powdered brown hair, and wears a white dress with gauze fichu and white drapery from the shoulders. Beverley sprawls in the pose of the Dying Gladiator or General Wolfe in Benjamin West's picture; he wears black shoes with silver buckles, white stockings, plum-coloured velvet breeches, jacket and waistcoat, a white shirt, and a loosely tied stock. His sister Charlotte wears a cap and a yellow frock with a gauze fichu. Lewson, bowing his head and clasping his hands in anguish, wears a brown coat.
Only the head of Jarvis is visible, along with his open-palmed gesture possibly taken from Caravaggio's Vatican ‘Deposition.' The looming figure of Stukely looks accusingly down at the hapless figure of Beverley. He wears dark breeches, a green coat, and a yellow waistcoat. The heads and hands are painted on finer canvas than the rest of the picture, and have been inserted into the larger work.
The “Gamester” was first performed at Drury Lane on 7 February 1753, with Garrick as Beverley, Davies as Stukely, Mossop as Lewson, Berry as Jarvis, Mrs Pritchard as Mrs Beverley, and Miss Haughton as Charlotte. Mather Brown's painting shows the performance at Covent Garden on 25 September 1786, the only occasion on which the performers pictured played together in these parts. Pope was playing Beverley for the first time in London, and Mrs Well was giving her first Charlotte. Hull had played Jarvis for the first time on 2 January 1782, whereas Inchbald was a last-minute stand-in for Francis Aickin, whose wife had just died.
Mrs Beverley kneels on the left and is holding her husband's hand. She has a cap on her powdered brown hair, and wears a white dress with gauze fichu and white drapery from the shoulders. Beverley sprawls in the pose of the Dying Gladiator or General Wolfe in Benjamin West's picture; he wears black shoes with silver buckles, white stockings, plum-coloured velvet breeches, jacket and waistcoat, a white shirt, and a loosely tied stock. His sister Charlotte wears a cap and a yellow frock with a gauze fichu. Lewson, bowing his head and clasping his hands in anguish, wears a brown coat.
Only the head of Jarvis is visible, along with his open-palmed gesture possibly taken from Caravaggio's Vatican ‘Deposition.' The looming figure of Stukely looks accusingly down at the hapless figure of Beverley. He wears dark breeches, a green coat, and a yellow waistcoat. The heads and hands are painted on finer canvas than the rest of the picture, and have been inserted into the larger work.
The “Gamester” was first performed at Drury Lane on 7 February 1753, with Garrick as Beverley, Davies as Stukely, Mossop as Lewson, Berry as Jarvis, Mrs Pritchard as Mrs Beverley, and Miss Haughton as Charlotte. Mather Brown's painting shows the performance at Covent Garden on 25 September 1786, the only occasion on which the performers pictured played together in these parts. Pope was playing Beverley for the first time in London, and Mrs Well was giving her first Charlotte. Hull had played Jarvis for the first time on 2 January 1782, whereas Inchbald was a last-minute stand-in for Francis Aickin, whose wife had just died.
