February 1895: Sir Noel Paton’s New Picture, “Beati Mundo Corde”, in Glasgow

Sir Joseph Noel Paton, Beati Mundo Corde, oil on canvas, Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council). Reproduced, Courtesy of Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council).

 

 

 

An article on page two of The Evening Telegraph (Dundee Evening Telegraph, in The British Newspaper

Archive), on Friday the 22nd of February, 1895, reads:

 

“SIR NOEL PATON’S NEW PICTURE.

 

A new picture by Sir Noel Paton is being exhibited in Glasgow.

The title of the picture is ‘Beati Mundo Corde,’ and it is an

emblematical exposition on canvas of the text ‘Blessed are the

pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ As typical of the ‘pure in

heart’ the painter has taken the spotless Knight of the Round

Table, Sir Galahad, whom he depicts at a moment in his quest of

the Holy Grail, which is thus described:—Sir Galahad with his

steed, wearied with a long day’s journey, has reached the gloomy

mere—Lake Perilous—where many have been lured to their ruin.

Here he finds a mystic barge awaiting him with an angel seated in

the bow ready to row him across. Tired Knight and steed enter the

boat, and are midstream when voluptuous forms and weird shapes—

‘Pleasure’ and ‘Despair’—tempt him; but the Knight keeps his gaze

fixed on the angel, hears the encouraging promise, ‘Blessed are the

pure in heart, for they shall see God,’ and crosses the lake in safety.

The incident—itself largely a conception of the artist, is derived neither

from Malory nor Tennyson—is pictured with all the wealth of imaginative

detail for which Sir Noel Paton is famous.”

 

 

 

The British Newspaper Archive.

 

 

 

George Fairfull-Smith, September 2024.