Lot 530: Henry Liverseege (1803-1832); oil on board, study

Henry Liverseege (1803-1832); oil on board, study of an inebriated monk, signed lower left, 29.5 x 25.5cm, in ornate gilt frame. Henry Liverseege was born in Manchester in 1803. He was the son of a mechanic and was brought up from the age of thirteen by his uncle, a wealthy mill owner who encouraged his talent for sketching and his love of literature and amateur dramatics. As a young man he painted in silhouettes and portraits but in 1827 he showed at The Royal Manchester Institution three small pictures of bandits. In the following five years he painted many cabinet sized and genre literary subjects, mainly from Scott, Shakespeare and Cervantes. In 1828, he unsuccessfully attempted to gain admission to the Royal Academy Schools (Illustrated).