The Salvage Man

ca. 1730s-1740s · Drawing · 12.7 × 18.1 cm

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Not receiving at present

Victoria and Albert Museum

London, United Kingdom

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 11 days ago
In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum's own collection data

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About the work

William Kent showed an interest in book-illustration from his earliest days in London after his return from Rome in 1719 and worked on designs for frontispiece, head- and tale-pieces for various publications. This particular drawing was one out of thirty-two designs created by Kent for Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene and was published by Stephen Wright and John Brindley in their edition of 1751.

Due to disparity in the allocation of the subjects between the volumes, it was once believed that a series of drawings for The Faerie Queene project was unfinished by Kent before his death. This theory was brought into doubt, however, by the fact that the existing drawings are numbered sequentially in ink, apparently by Kent himself, which indicates that no more than the thirty-two published were intended.

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The designs for The Faerie Queene are not wholly successful, but Kent's inventions carry his characteristic energy and directness. They were severely criticised by Horace Walpole in his 'Anecdotes of Painting in England' when he commented that "Such of his drawings as he designed for Gay's Fables have some truth and nature; but whoever would search for his faults will find an ample crop in a very favourite work of his, the prints for Spenser's Faerie Queene". Despite the vigour of the drawings such comments serve to reinforce the view of Kent as a supreme designer and decorator but a poor painter and draughtsman.

The subjects represented do contain, however, many interesting reflections of Kent's involvement with picturesque gothic architecture and garden design.

Victoria and Albert Museum