Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger

The Hunting of the Snark (1876) has been written by Lewis Carroll and illustrated by Henry Holiday. The Image shows Henry Holiday's illustrations to the front cover and the back cover of the book and paintings depicting Queen Elizabeth I, to which Henry Holyday may have alluded. There are many more pictorial allusions in Henry Holiday's Snark illustrations.

The Hunting of the Snark (1876) has been written by Lewis Carroll and illustrated by Henry Holiday. The Image shows Henry Holiday's illustrations to the front cover and the back cover of the book and paintings depicting Queen Elizabeth I. There are many more pictorial allusions in Henry Holiday's Snark illustrations.

The comparison shows Henry Holiday's illustration (1876) to the front cover of Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark compared to a reproduction of the Ditchley Portrait (a gift from Sir Henry Lee to Queen Elizabeth I, c. 1592) by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. 2013-02-05: The allusions in Henry Holiday's Snark illustration to the Ditchley Portrait are not as easy to detect as in some other Snark illustrations by Holiday, yet this comparison holds the third rank in my set of Flickr Members' Snark Favorites . Watch the sail of the ship and the queen's "sail". "While I concede Tufail 's thesis (2003) that Holiday received his instructions from Carroll and created his illustrations to reflect Carroll's cryptic messages and allusions, I contend that the interpretations given to the words we know so well by so many illustrators over a period in excess of 130 years continue to keep the Snark alive. Furthermore, it is my personal belief that Holiday managed to slip in a few interpretations of his own even though Carroll approved of the end result." (Doug Howick: The Hiihijig of the Bijtcheb, Knight Letter #28, Summer 2009) Perhaps Tufail and Howick both are right. As Henry Holiday frequently alluded to works of father&son Gheeraerts, John Tufail's Illuminated Snark (2004) gave me the idea to search for a Gheeraerts painting in which a map is shown . John reckoned, that the clouds in Holiday's front cover illustration may be part of a map. I think that this possibility cannot be excluded. John's assumption then drew my attention to the Ditchley portrait. (The Ditchley portrait again helped me to find sources for Holiday's illustration to the back cover of Carroll's book as well.)

The image shows Henry Holiday's illustration (1876) to the front cover of Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark compared to a grey shaded reproduction of the Ditchley Portrait (a gift from Sir Henry Lee to Queen Elizabeth I, c. 1592) by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. "While I concede Tufail 's thesis (2003) that Holiday received his instructions from Carroll and created his illustrations to reflect Carroll's cryptic messages and allusions, I contend that the interpretations given to the words we know so well by so many illustrators over a period in excess of 130 years continue to keep the Snark alive. Furthermore, it is my personal belief that Holiday managed to slip in a few interpretations of his own even though Carroll approved of the end result." (Doug Howick: The Hiihijig of the Bijtcheb, Knight Letter #28, Summer 2009) Perhaps Tufail and Howick both are right. There is more: "The 'clouds' - or what at first glance appear to be clouds, are another item of considerable interest. If these are indeed supposed to represent clouds, then they are remarkably poor renditions (and Holiday was by no means either a poor, nor slipshod artist). Rather any close examination of this aspect of the illustration leads the observer to think that this background to the Bellman is actually a map, complete with rivers. contrast to the map Bellman presents to his admiring crew." (John Tufail, The Illuminated Snark , 2004) As Henry Holiday in his Snark illustrations frequently alluded to works of father&son Gheeraerts, John Tufail's Illuminated Snark gave me the idea to search for a Gheeraerts painting in which a map is shown . John reckoned, that the clouds in Holiday's front cover illustration may be part of a map. I think that this possibility cannot be excluded. John's assumption then drew my attention to the Ditchley portrait. (The Ditchley portrait again helped me to find sources for Holiday's illustration to the back cover of Carroll's book as well.) 2013-12: Evidence supporting of John Tufail's thesis: www.doylenewyork.com/asp/fullcatalogue.asp?salelot=13BP04+++553+&refno=++953647&image=0 (see also: groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/carrolliana/conversations/topics/358 )

In Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark , the intertextuality of the poem is paralleled by the interpictoriality of Henry Holiday's illustrations: Here Henry Holiday reinterprets Marcus Gheeraerts I+II. The image above shows Henry Holiday's illustration to the chapter The Banker's Fate . (A small part of the left side has been removed in order to achieve a 4:3 ratio. The largest size is 5696 x 4352 pixels.) To Holiday's illustration I added images from which, in my opinion, he had borrowed shapes and concepts: (1) Under the Banker's arm: * Horizontally compressed segment of The Image Breakers (1566-1568) aka Allegory of Iconoclasm , an etching by Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder (British Museum, Dept. of Print and Drawings, 1933.1.1..3, see also Edward Hodnett: Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder, Utrecht 1971, pp. 25-29). I mirrored the "nose" about a horizontal axis (yellow frame). (2) Under the Beaver's paw (mirror views): * [top]: Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger: Catherine Killigrew , Lady Jermyn (1614) * [bottom, mirror view]: Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger: Mary Throckmorton , Lady Scudamore (1615)

[left (colored mirror view) and right (original)]: a segment from an illustration (1876) by Henry Holiday to The Hunting of the Snark [center]: Portrait (1615) of Mary Throckmorton Lady Scudamor by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. Here Holiday's creativity and playing with zoomorphism gave life to a scarf. · The coloring of the gloves I added to Henry Holiday's illustration based on Lewis Carroll's poem . The Beaver's color I just guessed ;-) · · 057· · He came as a Butcher: but gravely declared, · · 058· · · · When the ship had been sailing a week, · · 059· · He could only kill Beavers. The Bellman looked scared, · · 060· · · · And was almost too frightened to speak: · · 285· · But the Butcher turned nervous, and dressed himself fine, · · 286 · · · · With yellow kid gloves and a ruff -- · · 287· · Said he felt it exactly like going to dine, · · 288· · · · Which the Bellman declared was all "stuff." · · 409· · Such friends, as the Beaver and Butcher became, · · 410· · · · Have seldom if ever been known; · · 411· · In winter or summer, 'twas always the same-- · · 412· · · · You could never meet either alone.

Henry Holiday reinterprets Marcus Gheeraerts II in The Hunting of the Snark [left]: Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger: Catherine Killigrew , Lady Jermyn (1614) [right]: Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger: Mary Throckmorton , Lady Scudamore (1615) [center]: Henry Holiday: Segment of an illustration to Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark (1876) · · 057· · He came as a Butcher: but gravely declared, · · 058· · · · When the ship had been sailing a week, · · 059· · He could only kill Beavers. The Bellman looked scared, · · 060· · · · And was almost too frightened to speak: · · 285· · But the Butcher turned nervous, and dressed himself fine, · · 286 · · · · With yellow kid gloves and a ruff -- · · 287· · Said he felt it exactly like going to dine, · · 288· · · · Which the Bellman declared was all "stuff." · · 409· · Such friends, as the Beaver and Butcher became, · · 410· · · · Have seldom if ever been known; · · 411· · In winter or summer, 'twas always the same-- · · 412· · · · You could never meet either alone.

Anne Hale, Mrs Hoskins (1629) by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger and a segment (mirror view) of an illustration by Henry Holiday (cut by Joseph Swain) to Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark (1876)

Anne Hale, Mrs Hoskins (1629) by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger and a segment (mirror view) of an illustration by Henry Holiday (cut by Joseph Swain) to Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark (1876)