Lot 40: - Sir Joseph Noel Paton, R.S.A. , 1821-1901 mors janua vitae (death, the gateway of life) oil on canvas

signed with monogram and dated 66 l.l. oil on canvas

measurements note 117 by 73.5 cm., 46 by 29 in.

Royal Academy, 1866, no. 299;
Royal Glasgow Institute, 1902, no. 1699;
London, Guildhall Art Gallery, Pictures by Living Artists, 1900, no. 112;
Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Pre-Raphaelites and the Olympians: Selected Works of Victorian Art from the John and Julia Schaeffer and the Art Gallery of New South Wales Collections, 2001

Alfred T. Story, 'Sir J. Noel Paton: His Life and Work', special supplement to Art Journal, 1895, pp. 112, repr. p.128

Henry Mungall;
Mrs Gay;
Mr Wallis;
Richard Haworth, Blackburn;
Christie's, 26 November 2003, lot 12;
Private collection

PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
'So, wounded and weary from the conflict, he rose and followed the beckoning Shadow. His steps were feeble by reason of his sore hurts; but his heart quailed not, for he knew that ere now his Lord had trodden the same way. Thus passed he through the dark valley where were many tombs; and the dead leaves were deep beneath his feet...At last, strength failing him, he sank upon his knees. Then the Shadow made pause; and turning round, laid upon him a hand, at whose touch his blood became as ice...And the Shadow spake, and its voice was as the voice of an angel: Thou hast been faithful unto death; the Lord will give thee a crown of Life. Then was the vail of Darkness rent asunder: and lo! the Shadow was clothed with light as with a garment of rejoicing; and he knew that the promise was fulfilled, and that, in very deed, Mortality was swallowed up in Life - The Good Fight.'

This picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy in the year that Paton was given a royal appointment as Limner for Scotland and at a time when he was painting serious historical and allegorical subjects to refute claims by critics that he was obsessed with painting fairies. The catalogue for the exhibition included the quotation above which describes the idea of death being the beginning of eternal life, rather than an end. The painting is visible in a photograph of Paton's drawing room at his home in St. George's Square in Edinburgh and another photograph attributed to Paton's brother-in-law David Octavius Hill depicts the artists standing before an almost pristine canvas with the outline for Mors Janua Vitae sketched out. Paton was an avid collector of armour and the suit that appears in this painting is also visible in Hill's photograph.

Another, smaller version of this picture is known (Christie's, 13 March 1992, lot 93). It was Paton's usual practice to produce a smaller version of a successful composition.