painter; son and pupil of Charles Cope, landscape painter, and student in Royal Academy schools. After making studies in Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome, and Naples, he returned in 1836 to England. Received in 1843 prize of £300 for his cartoon First Trial by Jury; elected an A.R.A. in 1843, and R.A. in 1848. He has painted eight frescos in the Houses of Parliament. Is a fine etcher. Works: Nereids (1836); He ever Liveth to make Intercession (1840); Whoever shall Give to Drink (1844); Last Days of Wolsey (1848); King Lear (1850); Royal Prisoners at Carisbrook (1855); Pilgrim Fathers (1857); Shylock and Jessica (1867); Disciples at Emmaus (1868); Yes or No? (1873); Taming the Shrew (1874); Anne Page and Slender (1875); Selecting Pictures for the Royal Academy Exhibition (1876); Bianca's Lovers (1878); A Country Club (1879); Far Away Thoughts (1881).—Art Journal (1869), 177; Sandby, ii. 181; Graves, 53.
COPHETUA AND THE BEGGAR-MAID,
Burne-Jones, London; canvas, H.
12 ft. × 9 ft. Illustration of the legend of
the African King Cophetua, who wedded
the beggar-maid, as told in the old ballad in
Percy's Reliques (I. ii. 6), and more lately
by Tennyson in "The Beggar-Maid." The
beggar-maid, Penelophon, clad in a simple
robe of gray stuff, with her bare feet timourously
drawn under her, is sitting, half dismayed
and half content, on the purple
cushions of the throne, while the king, radiant
in steel armour and jewelled robes, sits
on the step at her feet, holding the crown in
his hands and looking up into her face with
adoring love and wonder; above, in a gallery,
two chorister boys are making music.
Grosvenor Gallery, 1884.—London Times,
May 6, 1884, 6.
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COPLEY, JOHN SINGLETON, born in
Boston, Mass., July 3, 1737, died in London,
Sept. 9, 1815. Although Copley is
spoken of as self-taught, there can be no
doubt that his talent, which showed itself at
an early age, was fostered and trained by
his stepfather, Peter Pelham, the well-known
painter and engraver, who died in 1751,
about which time Copley began to paint
portraits. One of
these, of General
Brattle (W. Appleton,
Boston), has
more historical than
artistic value. Improving
through
steady practice and
observation, he soon
rose above the standard
of Smybert and
Blackburn, and painted a series of portraits
of members of the leading Boston families,
in a hard, dry style, which is redeemed by
the undeniably well-bred air given to his
sitters, and his very clever manner of treating
dress accessories, such as silks, satins,
etc. The portrait of his half-brother, Henry
Pelham, known as the Boy and the Squirrel
(James Amory, Boston), was sent to England
and exhibited (1760) at Somerset
House, and was much commended by West
and other good judges. In 1774 he went to
Rome, and in 1775-76 settled in London
and began a career of uninterrupted success.
In 1777 he was elected an A.R.A.,
and in 1779 R.A. Patronized by the royal
family and the nobility, he executed many
portraits and historical pictures, such as the
Death of Chatham (1779-80), Death of Major
Pierson (1783), Siege of Gibraltar (1789-90),
National Gallery; the Daughters of George
III. (Buckingham Palace), the so-called
Family Picture (Charles Amory), the painter's
masterpiece, the Red-Cross Knight
(1788, S. G. Dexter), Mrs. Derby as St.
Cecilia (W. Appleton), and Mrs. D. D.
Rogers (1789, H. B. Rogers), which may
be regarded as one of his best, if not his
very best portrait. Copley's best works
were collected by his son, Lord Chancellor
Lyndhurst, and many of them have been
engraved.—A. T. Perkins, Life, etc., of J. S.
Copley (1873); Memorial History of Boston
(1881), iv.; Mrs. M. B. Amory, Life of J. S.
Copley (1882); Cunningham (1832); Tuck-
