Year 1842 Artist Ford Madox Brown Media Oil paint | Medium Oil on canvas Created 1842 | |
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Dimensions 140.2 cm × 115 cm (55.2 in × 45 in) Location Manchester City Art Galleries Similar Cromwell - Protector of the Vaud, Chaucer at the Court of Edward III, Pretty Baa‑Lambs, The Last of England, Cromwell on his Farm | ||
Manfred on the Jungfrau is an 1842 oil-on-canvas artwork by Ford Madox Brown. It is inspired by Act I Scene II of Lord Byron's famous dramatic poem Manfred, probably most particularly the following:
The painting depicts the central character of the poem, Manfred, who is a noble and wealthy aristocrat, about to toss himself from the heights of the Jungfrau mountain. Manfred is, however, saved from death by a chamois hunter who happens upon him, and who is seen approaching in the background of the painting, clad in fur. The detail seen on Manfred's face shows his deep psychological agony, and the reason for his desire for suicide.
In 1837, John Martin painted an artwork of the same name. Martin's version was a watercolour, and focused more on the Jungfrau mountain than on the detail of Manfred and the hunter.