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

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Life

Perigal was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 10 January 1784 the son of Francois Perigal and his wife, Marie Ogier. He studied under

Henry Fuseli Henry Fuseli ( ; ; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman, and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his successful works depict supernatural experiences, such as '' The Nightmare''. He pr ...

at the

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

, 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 town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, and then later moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. He lastly settled in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. 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 art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

. 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 o ...

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 ...

, 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 (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

''). 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 (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