#of course theres been debates about whether this was really simeon

[favouritefi]

btw its so crazy that solomon was praised as highly as he was for his paintings considering that solomon's father was the first emancipated jew in london and solomon's debut at the royal academy featured paintings with explicit jewish themes (he doesn't get into hellenic subjects until a few years later). he was jewish in a time and place where antisemitism was not only rampant but ingrained into the law and yet ppl still ate him up. his older siblings, abraham and rebecca, tended to focus on contemporary people and subjects but solomon was out here drawing jochebed and miriam and david dancing before the ark and using a jamaican model whose mother was born into slavery (fanny eaton) and hanging out with the pre-raphaelites and well known victorian homosexuals and falling in love in paris and italy and italy again and shaving his beard (a big no-no for victorian men) and going down to the pub to recite the bible and pretend he wrote it and getting arrested once or twice for fucking men or perhaps simply for handjobs like wow how can you not be obsessed with him he lived Such A Life.

anyway heres a painting abraham did of simeon as a baby. i think it was simon reynolds who suggested that this was painted by abraham before he left the home and the dog (who is likely a metaphorical symbol rather than an actual dog) is meant to watch over simeon in abraham's stead. abraham created a guardian for his baby brother and then immortalized him forever through his art. if that aint love then what is.

when people post this painting of sappho i wonder if they know that the artist was a gay victorian jewish man who was arrested for buggery in a public urinal

btw it's Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene (1864) by Simeon Solomon, currently housed at the Tate and not on display

[ourladyoflazarus]

#of course theres been debates about whether this was really simeon#and since its currently in a private collection its not like theres any way scholars can confirm it#and reynolds himself has had some sus takes#with certain simeon solomon scholars finding him to be overly sentimental and prone to unfounded extrapolation#but if i remember correctly the timing is about right#and why would abraham paint a random baby#imo its simeon#it makes me happier to imagine thats true

when people post this painting of sappho i wonder if they know that the artist was a gay victorian jewish man who was arrested for buggery in a public urinal

btw it's Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene (1864) by Simeon Solomon, currently housed at the Tate and not on display