{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O79081"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O79081/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM2123/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM2123/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AM2123","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JU4102","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O79081/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O79081","accessionNumber":"W.9-1938","objectType":"Panel","titles":[{"title":"Psyche at her Toilet (from Hill Hall, Essex)","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"<b>Object Type</b><br>This is a rare example of an English wall painting  of the period.  Houses owned by the gentry and merchants were often decorated with murals during the 16th and 17th centuries, mostly in imitation of wall hangings.  However, few figurative paintings survive. They were not considered worth preserving and were often overpainted, or even destroyed, during subsequent redecoration. <br><br><b>Subjects Depicted</b><br>The painting includes an episode from the story of Cupid and Psyche. This is a famous tale in the Roman novel now called <i>The Golden Ass</i>, written by Lucius Apuleius in the 2nd century AD.  It was first translated into English by William Arlington in 1566.  The scene shows Psyche at her toilet, accompanied by her assistant.<br><br><b>People</b><br>Lucas de Heere, who possibly painted these scenes, was born in Ghent, Flanders (now Belgium). He had a distinguished career on the Continent, working as a painter, tapestry designer, draughtsman and poet. However, his Calvinist (or Protestant) sympathies led him to spend the years 1567-1576 in England.<br><br><b>Place</b><br>Hill Hall was owned by Sir Thomas Smith (1513-1577), Secretary of State to Edward VI and later to Elizabeth I. Other sections of this decorative scheme can still be seen at Hill Hall (English Heritage).","physicalDescription":"Coloured distemper painting on a thin coat of fine plaster depicting Psyche at her toilet, a scene from the love story of Cupid and Psyche","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"d'Heere, Lucas","id":"A8339"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"possibly"},{"name":{"text":"Coxie, Michiel (the elder)","id":"A8291"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":"after"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"distemper","id":"AAT15035"},{"text":"plaster","id":"AAT14922"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painting (image-making)","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Interiors","id":"THES48933"},{"text":"British Galleries","id":"THES48985"},{"text":"Myths & Legends","id":"THES49005"},{"text":"Wall coverings","id":"THES48878"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2006AM2123","2017JU4102"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"58E (VA)","id":"THES49233"},"free":"","case":"WN","shelf":"","box":"18"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Painted plaster panel","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Essex","id":"x29455"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1575","earliest":"1570-01-01","latest":"1579-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"w.8-1938","id":"O137394"},"association":"Group"},{"object":{"text":"w.10-1938","id":"O167700"},"association":"Group"}],"creditLine":"Given by Lord Edward Hay","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"101.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"95.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"300 \nDimensions checked: Measured; 13/10/2000 by Shayne Rivers\n\nDisplay dimensions refer to old box frame, measured by Greg Howarth. SB knows that new steel frame of similar size to be designed.","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Given by Lord Edward Hay, Hill Hall, Theydon Mount Essex\r\nRP 1620/38\r\nRubbed and cracked in many places\r\n\r\nRemoved from Hill Hall, Essex, where (together with W8 and W10- 1938) it  formed part of a large decorative scheme (see Neg. 77381, photograph taken  before demolition). The designs were taken from a set of engravings illustrating  the story of Cupid and Psyche by the Master of the Die and Agostino  Veneziano after designs by Michiel Coxie, or possibly from a later imitation of  these engravings by J. A. Ducerceau.\n\nPossibly by Lucas de Heere (born in Ghent, about 1534, died, possibly in Ghent, 1584); based on a print by the Master of the Die, using designs by Michiel Coxcie the Elder (born in Mechelen, Belgium 1499, died there in 1592)\nPainted at Hill Hall, Theydon Mount, Essex","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Painted plaster panel, Psyche at her toilet, painted after Michiel Coxie the elder, made possibly by Lucas d'Heere, ca. 1575, Essex","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"J.F.A. Roberts, ‘English wall-Paintings after Italian engravings’ in The Burlington Magazine , vol. XVIII, 1941, p. 86-92, Pl. A-C."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Richard Simpson (1977) 'Sir Thomas Smith and the Wall Paintings at Hill  Hall, Essex: Scholary Theory and Design in the Sixteenth Century',  Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 40:1, 1-20, DOI:  10.1080/00681288.1977.11895055."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Richard Simpson, 'Politics Put in Paint' in Country Life, April 20, 2000, pp.112-115"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Tobit Curteis, The Elizabethan Wall Paintings of Hill Hall: Influences and Techniques, in Ashok Roy and Perry Smith (eds.), Painting techniques - History, Materials and Studio Practice. Contributions to the Dublin Congress, 7-11 September 1998, pp.131-5"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"P.J. Drury, 'A Fayre House, Buylt by Sir Thomas Smith': The Development of Hill Hall, Essex, 1557-81', in Journal of the British Archaelogical Association CXXXVI (1983), pp.98-123"}],"production":"Based on a set of engravings by the Master of the Die and Agostino Veneziano after original designs by Michiel Coxie the Elder (born in Mechelen, Belgium 1499, died there in 1592), or possibly from a later imitation of these engravings by J. A. Ducerceau.\r\n\r\nPainted at Hill Hall, Theydon Mount, Essex.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Psyche","id":"N211"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"British Galleries:\nThis is a fragment from a room (shown in the photograph of about 1937) that was once entirely decorated with frescoes showing the love story of Cupid and Psyche. They were deliberately painted to represent hanging tapestry. The depiction of the ancient gods naked shows a renewed interest in classical sculpture. Naked men evoked the heroism of the ancient world, naked women it passionate love affairs.","date":{"text":"27/03/2003","earliest":"2003-03-27","latest":"2003-03-27"}}],"partNumbers":["W.9-1938"],"accessionNumberNum":"9","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":1938,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LR2473","2019LP9027","2019LP2264","2019LV5320","2019LV4901"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-06-11","recordCreationDate":"2003-03-27","availableToBook":false}}