Sympathy

A little girl in her best dress sits on the proverbial naughty step, eyes brimming with tears. Her sympathetic canine companion provides dogged, silent support. Briton Riviere was hailed as the ‘Prince of dog-painters’, though he once said his animals were ‘never portraits’. His daughter Millicent sat for the girl. The painting’s first owner thought her a likeness of his own daughter too. In the 19th century childhood was reconceptualised with an emphasis on innocence and purity, epitomised in sentimental artworks like this.

The art critic John Ruskin (1819-1900) once remarked privately that this painting was better suited for a home than a museum. It was reproduced by the engraver Frederick Stacpoole (1813-1907), whose work was much admired by Riviere himself. This print circulated so widely that an early critic noted that Riviere’s little girl had ‘found her way into hundreds of homes, both humble and luxurious’. The painting’s celebrity status made it an asset to the College collection, where it still attracts visitors today.

Even in its own time Sympathy was satirised, with publications like Fun and Punch taking inspiration from the image for political ends. This tradition continues into the 21st century.

Purchased by Thomas Holloway, 1883.