William Marshall Craig (before 1787 - 1827)
RA Collection: Art
This scene is based on two passages in the Bible (II Chronicles: 29 and II Kings: 18) which describe King Hezekiah reinstating worship in the Temple after the reign of the pagan King Ahaz. Craig depicts the decoration of the temple in classical style but Hezekiah is dressed in garments of early medieval appearance. It is only the title which reveals that this is a biblical scene.
William Marshall Craig was a well-known miniature painter and became painter in watercolours to Queen Charlotte in 1812.
This work comes from one of sixteen volumes of Royal Academy Annual Exhibition catalogues that were collected and extra-illustrated by the lawyer and antiquarian Edward Basil Jupp F.S.A. (1812 - 1877). The catalogues span the period from the first annual exhibition in 1769 up to 1875. Jupp added drawings, prints, letters and autographs by, or referring to, Academicians and other exhibitors at the Academy's annual exhibition.
E.B. Jupp was a solicitor who married Eliza Kay, daughter of the architect William Porden Kay. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a clerk of the Carpenters' Company, of which he published a history. Jupp amassed a large collection of paintings by British and Dutch artists, drawings, prints, books and porcelain most of which was sold after his death, at Christie's in February 1878.
Many of the drawings in Jupp's Royal Academy extra-illustrated volumes were bought from art sales during the 1860s. He was also acquainted with a number of contemporary artists and several drawings in the later volumes (along with many of the letters and autographs) were sent from the artists themselves.
176 mm x 105 mm