Autograph letter signed by William Etty about his Joan of Arc Triptych 1847

ETTY, William (1787–1849). Autograph letter signed about his Joan of Arc triptych.
 
14 Buckingham Street, Strand, Wednesday morning, 5 May 1847.
 
2 sheets folded of 4 sides each., written on six sides, c. 225 x 185 mm. Light creasing from folding, some handling wear and minor staining, but entirely legible and sound. A previous owner, perhaps the recipient, has anonymised the letter with black ink, which bleeds into other pages. Overall, very good. 
 
A substantial letter written at the moment of completion and exhibition of Etty’s great Joan of Arc triptych at the Royal Academy in 1847, giving a detailed account of his artistic conception and intentions behind the work.
 
Etty explains that the three paintings “have cost me many an anxious thought for a considerable space of seven years,” tracing their origin to impressions formed at York Minster and, more decisively, at Westminster Abbey, “under the chivalric banners that hang there, hearing the anthems sung, and looking towards the Grand Portal.” He describes his imaginative vision of Joan “riding into the Gates of Orleans,” before outlining his decision to structure the subject in epic form, “to have a beginning, a middle and an end,” each panel conveying a distinct moral idea. In a notable passage he characterises Joan as “the Judith of modern times,” and defines the sequence as expressing “the saint, the patriot, and the martyr — that heroic self-devotion to her country and her Prince which has stamped her fame.”
 
The letter further records Etty’s research journey through France — Rouen, Paris, and Orleans — undertaken to inform the series, and his determination to complete what he calls his “series of nine historical pictures,” despite severe illness: “the severity of winter, my struggles for breath and severe cough made me waver, but I hoped on.”
 
Particularly significant is Etty’s direct response to contemporary criticism of the exhibited work. Addressing comments that Joan appeared insufficiently animated, he defends his intention to avoid theatricality, insisting instead on a “serene expression” indicative of “a superior power,” deliberately rejecting “the vulgar exhibition of those human passions which actuate more ordinary characters.” This passage corresponds closely with published critical reactions in the contemporary press, and strongly suggests the letter formed the basis of, or was the letter, that he sent to and was published in The Fine Arts Journal.
 
The closing section gives a vivid account of the martyrdom scene, including the detail of Joan clasping a crucifix at the stake and “calling on the name of Jesus,” with the traditional note that “a white dove was seen flying towards heaven.”
 
The triptych described here was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1847 (no. 123) and later dispersed; the central panel is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans, the left sided panel (shown here) was recently sold at Bonhams, and the other has not surfaced.