Barnaby Rudge Helping Lead the Gordon Riots

1884

Charles Green

(British, 1840–1898)

Culture

England, 19th century

Medium

watercolor with traces of graphite

Support

Sturdy-weight, blued-white, moderately textured, wove paper

Measurements

Sheet: 25.4 x 17.6 cm (10 x 6 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz 2013.238

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

This drawing was never published as an illustration, but the character of Barnaby appeared in Charles Green's design for a title page for an edition of Dickens's collected works.

Description

Charles Green was one of the most successful black-and-white illustrators in Victorian England, known especially for his images related to the novels of Charles Dickens. The subject of this drawing relates to the writer's historical novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty, based on the Gordon Riots. Here, Green depicted participants in an anti-Catholic protest against the Papists' Act of 1778, the most violent outpouring of religious hatred in 18th-century Britain.