The Bribe, 1857

Frederick Richard Pickersgill RA (1820 - 1900)

RA Collection: Art

When it was first exhibited at the Academy in 1858, Pickersgill's diploma work was accompanied by the following quotation from a Spanish ballad:

'She tempted the Alcaydé with her jewels and her gold,

And unto her his prisoner that jailer false hath sold.'

The subject of the picture allows the artist to contrast the soft drapery of the woman's green dress with the shiny armour of the gaoler, as well as youth with age, and to demonstrate his skills in the meticulous painting of the casket of jewels. Pickersgill's use of strong colour shows the influence of Titian and other old masters of 16th-century Venice.