Palpitation
Om maleriet
Palpitation is an 1844 genre painting by the British artist Charles West Cope. It depicts a fashionable young woman waiting in a state of or anxiety as the postman and a servant are gossiping on the doorstep. She is waiting for a letter, either from a suitor or a secret lover.
The painting was displayed at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1844 held at London's National Gallery. It was acquired by the art collector John Sheepshanks, who included it in his large donation of paintings to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1857.
Med museets ord
The artist described this scene as ‘a young lady waiting for her letter, while the postman and servant are gossiping on the doorstep’. It is unclear whether the palpitation of the title is caused by the lady’s anxiety to receive a letter from a suitor or to intercept a letter from an illicit lover.
Victoria and Albert Museum
