Portrait of Richard Streatfeild Family 1645

Curator: Here we see William Dobson's "Portrait of Richard Streatfeild Family," created around 1645 using oil paint. Editor: Immediately, what strikes me is how intensely somber it feels. Even with the children present, there's a weight, a gravity to it all. And the skulls... are those really necessary? Curator: They do rather jump out, don’t they? Those skulls are certainly a striking vanitas motif. Dobson, painting during the English Civil War, understood the precarity of life and the transience of worldly possessions. That influenced not only the subject matter but also the very creation and reception of this oil on canvas artwork. Editor: Yes, I can almost smell the canvas and the pigment. Knowing it was made during such turbulent times adds layers. Makes you wonder what life was like for the artist mixing the paint and the family posing amidst so much chaos. Curator: Exactly. The black garments of the adults and even some of the childrens clothes would've required an immense amount of labour in procuring and preparing materials, then actually producing such luxurious items. Also note, the seemingly hurried execution. You see how thinly the pigments are applied which suggests to me a degree of speed of production compared to other paintings of the period. This probably can be traced to the pressures surrounding the civil war. Editor: The children... they're so serious for being kids in a painting! You know what's really peculiar, though? The child is directing us... pointing almost accusatory... very bizarre! Curator: Interesting reading! Consider Dobson's situation as an artist patronized by the royal court, painting in Oxford, cut off from London, it all adds to a complex web of materiality and circumstance influencing what we see. It is an exercise in survival not in frivolous enjoyment as we might be lead to believe if were seeing portraits of subjects from pre-civil war times. Editor: Well, all in all, despite the slightly unsettling aspects, I can definitely see how this captures a specific and fraught moment in history, the making, as much as the subjects and their serious demeanour. A real reflection on our inevitable fate! Curator: Indeed, the circumstances surrounding this portrait really foreground the human endeavour both of those depicted and its painter. A poignant consideration.