Portrait of Mr. Van Amburgh, As He Appeared with His Animals at the London Theatres

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, 1802–1873, British, Portrait of Mr. Van Amburgh, As He Appeared with His Animals at the London Theatres, Summer 1846 to March 1847

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Creator:: Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, 1802–1873
Title:: Portrait of Mr. Van Amburgh, As He Appeared with His Animals at the London Theatres
Former Title(s):: Captain van Amsburgh
Portrait of Mr. Van Amburgh, as he appeared with his animals at the London theatres. Painted for Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington. [1847, Royal Academy of Arts, London, exhibition catalogue]
Date:: Summer 1846 to March 1847
Materials & Techniques:: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:: 69 1/4 x 94 inches (175.9 x 238.8 cm), Frame: 85 1/4 × 108 × 6 1/4 inches (216.5 × 274.3 × 15.9 cm)
Credit Line:: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:: Public Domain
Accession Number:: B1977.14.61
Classification:: Paintings
Collection:: Paintings and Sculpture
Link to Frame:: B1977.14.61FR
Subject Terms:: advertisement | cage | costume | fear | flowers (plants) | food | genre subject | gesture | laurel crown | lions | performance | performer | portrait | sporting art | stage | tamer | tigers | whip | zoo
Associated People:: Amburgh, Van
Access:: On view
Link:: https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:410
Export:: XML
IIIF Manifest:: JSON

Isaac Van Amburgh (1805–1865) was an American lion tamer who was popular on the London stage. Queen Victoria attended his show no less than six times in 1838, staying afterward on one occasion to witness the feeding of the beasts. This portrait was commissioned by the Duke of Wellington (who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo). When the duke commissioned the painting, he pointed out a passage in the bible (Book of Genesis) in which God grants humankind domination over other creatures. The duke specified that the passage be somehow inscribed on the work. Landseer would later comment that the painting was his own “sacred subject on that account.” The portrait recalls traditional depictions of Daniel in the Lion’s den, but while Victorian viewers of the painting may have been impressed by Van Amburgh’s bravery, audiences today are likely more ambivalent at the captivity of the caged animals.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016

In a New Light: 500 Years of British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-04-01 - 2026-01-30) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Circus and the City (The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, 2012-09-13 - 2013-02-03) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Fierce Friends - Artists & Animals in the Industrial Era, 1750-1920 (Carnegie Museum of Art, 2006-03-25 - 2006-08-27) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Fierce Friends - Artists & Animals in the Industrial Era, 1750-1920 (Van Gogh Museum, 2005-10-05 - 2006-02-05) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

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