Heath Robinson (Thomas)

original artwork for William Canton’s ‘A Child’s Book of Saints’, published by J.M. Dent in 1898, and all illustrated by Thomas Heath Robinson (1869-1954). He was a prolific illustrator of both books and magazines, though his fame has never acquired the fame and popular affection achieved by his younger brother, William Heath Robinson. This particular illustration accompanies the story ‘The Ancient Gods Pursuing’, which tells the story of the bishop of the early church, Hilary, whose mission it was to traverse the Alps and scoure the heathen lands to overturn all remnants of the ancient gods. The particular episode depicted was the night he and his companions were given shelter and entertained by the bewitchingly beautiful figure of Lady Pelagia, described by her servant as being from Rome and before that from Greece. She asks Hilary three puzzling questions about the nature of God, which he believes he cannot answer, hence the caption that he ‘wondered and mused’. But a spiritual voice issues from his mouth in reply, eventually exposing her as a representative of Lucifer and, by breathing on her, turns her into a marble statue they recognise as the Roman goddess Venus, the Greek goddess Aphrodite, also known as Pelagia, the Lady of the Sea,

pen and black ink on artboard, 365 x 245 mm. (14 3/8 x 9 5/8 in), some old marginal surface accretions and losses from a previous mount, all well outside the image, with its Chris Beetles Gallery exhibition label,