Arthur Perigal (c.1784–1847) was a British historical, portrait and landscape

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Life

Perigal was born in London on 10 January 1784 the son of Francois Perigal and his wife, Marie Ogier. He studied under Henry Fuseli at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

, and in 1811 gained the gold medal for historical painting, the subject being ''Themistocles taking Refuge at the Court of Admetus''. Perigal for some time practised portrait-painting in London, but around 1820 he appears to have gone to

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, and then later moved to Manchester. He lastly settled in Edinburgh, where he taught drawing, and from 1833 onwards exhibited portraits and landscapes at the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

. In the 1830s Perigal is listed as living at 6 St Vincent Street in the Stockbridge area of Edinburgh. Perigal died at 21 Hill Street, Edinburgh, on 19 September 1847, aged 63. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

near the north-west corner of the original cemetery.

Works

Perigal began in 1810 to exhibit at the Royal Academy and the

British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...

, sending the former a portrait and ''Queen Katherine delivering to Capucius her Farewell Letter to King Henry the Eighth'', and to the latter ''The Restoration of the Daughters of Œdipus'' and ''Helena and Hermia'' (from ''

Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

''). These works were followed at the Royal Academy by ''Aridæus and Eurydice'' in 1811, his ''Themistocles'' in 1812, ''The Mother's last Embrace of her Infant Moses'' in 1813, and again in 1816; his last picture at the Academy was ''Going to Market'', appeared in 1821. His contributions to the British Institution included ''Roderick Dhu discovering himself to FitzJames'' in 1811, the ''Death of Rizzio'' in 1813, ''Joseph sold by his Brethren'' in 1814, ''Scipio restoring the Captive Princess to her Lover'' in 1815, and, lastly, ''The Bard'' in 1828.

Family

He was married to Louisa Susanna Pilleau (1780-1861). They had five children. Their eldest son,

Arthur Perigal, the younger Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

(1816–1884) was a landscape-painter.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Perigal, Arthur 1780s births 1847 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters English portrait painters 19th-century English male artists