Fabulous antique hand painted portrait miniature style painting in oil on card of Agrippina with urn filled ashes of Germanicus by Emma E. Kendrick, artist notation/signature on the back and in original gilt bronze simplistic frame! Exceptional detail and visible brush strokes. The frame appears to be the sort that would have been set into an outer frame (as if this was the inner mat) but it's original. I've included an image of another frame that we have that it fits into, it's vintage but free with this one if you'd rather display the piece in it.
The label on the back appears to read “Agrippina bearing the ashes of Germanicus, Emma E. Kendrick Duchess Street(?), Portland Place”. Emma Eleonora Kendrick (c. 1788–1871), daughter of sculptor Joseph Kendrick, was a prominent British artist specializing in portrait miniatures during the early nineteenth century. She gained recognition for her exhibitions at the Royal Academy starting from 1811 and at the Society of British Artists from its founding in 1823, and later received prestigious royal appointments as miniature painter to Princess Elizabeth of Hesse-Homburg in 1830 and to King William IV in 1831. Kendrick's works, often featuring detailed watercolors on ivory depicting figures in period attire, are held in collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.
Germanicus was the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius Caesar. As a Roman general, Germanicus won a number of victories in Germany and wished to continue with his aggressive warfare. Tiberius disagreed and reassigned Germanicus to the East where he took sick and died in Antioch. All of Rome suspected that Tiberius had had Germanicus poisened. Agrippina, Germanisus' wife returned to Rome with her three sons.
Agrippina subsequently plotted and planned for her son, Nero, to replace or succeed Tiberius as Emperor. She and two of her sons were then banished from Rome and were shortly thereafter executed on Tiberius' orders. Her third son, Gaius (identified in the painting as the smiling boy in the foreground) was to become the notoriously cruel Emperor Caligula (12-41).
Very good condition. There are a few small marks to the painting, all visible in the photos and scanned enlargements. See images for all measurements.
