Welcome Footsteps

Artist Marcus Stone (London, England, 1840 - 1921)

Date1898

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 171.8 cm, Width: 85.8 cm
Frame: Height: 202 cm, Width: 116.3 cm

AcquisitionPresented in 1910 by Sir James Murray.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG003708

Keywords

About Me''Welcome Footsteps'' was painted by Marcus Stone c.1898. In that year it was exhibited at the Royal Academy and one year later a mezzotint of the painting was published by E. Gilbert.

Marcus Stone was a romantic who preferred to be known as 'Marcus Apollo Belvedere Stone'. He would dismiss criticism of the obvious sentimentality and popularity of his paintings with a resigned ''one sells one's birthright'' and continued to paint what were known as ''Dorothy pictures'' in which, as here, a dreamy girl, dressed in vaguely period costume, is courted by an eligible young man. Heavy Victorian symbolism abounds - the rose she holds a symbol of her youth and beauty, the falling leaves a reminder of how this beauty must necessarily fade with the passing of time.