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Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2006.
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Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2006.
Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2006.

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Artist Sir Joseph Noel Paton (Scottish, 1821-1901)
CultureScottish
Dateca. 1855-56
MediumOil on panel
DimensionsOverall: 37 1/2 x 32 in. (95.3 x 81.3 cm)
Overall, Frame: 51 x 45 1/4 x 6 1/8 in. (129.5 x 114.9 x 15.6 cm)
InscribedInscribed on a label on the reverse: Home from the Crimea; Autograph replica: Home, 1859, oil on canvas, 27 7/8 x 22 5/8 inches (71 x 57.5 cm), Queen's Collection, Buckingham Palace, London. ; Engraving: Engraved by H. T. Ryall in February, 1859.;
Credit LineMuseum purchase and gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. by exchange
Object number2006.5.1
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 215
DescriptionThis oil on panel painting depicts the reunion of a Scottish soldier with his family upon his return from service in the Crimean War (1854-1856). The soldier sits in a chair and his/her mother stands behind him and cries over his shoulder. His wife kneels on the floor and hugs him around the waist.

Label TextSir Joseph Noel Paton Scottish, 1821–1901 Home, ca. 1855–56 Oil on panel Noel Paton’s scene brims with details that bring its story of military valor and family strength to life. The Scottish soldier seated at center has just returned from the Crimean War. Slumped in a chair, his wife and mother fold over him. He has suffered serious wounds—his head is heavily bandaged and he has lost an arm in battle. But despite the sacrifices the family has made for home and country, the open Bible proclaims its spiritual strength in the face of uncertainty. The promise of a better future is embodied by the child sleeping peacefully in the cradle behind them. Museum purchase and gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., by exchange 2006.5.1 ProvenanceSir Joseph Noel Paton, ca. 1855-1856; Collection of W. Wilson of Bannock, Scotland, by 1863; Collection of George Alexander Baird of Stitchill House, Kelso, Scotland, by 1888; [Sold from Baird's estate] Christie's, London (Lot 52), June 26, 1897; Private Collection, Ireland; Phillips, London (Lot 26), June 22, 1999; Ben Elwes Fine Art, London, 1999; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va, Museum purchase and gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. by exchange, 2006. Exhibition HistoryBuchingham Palace, London, England, 1856 [Exhibited by the artist] Royal Academy of Arts, London, England, 1856 [Exhibited by the artist] Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1863 [as Home from the Crimea] Exposition Universelle, Paris, France, 1867 International Exhibition, Glasgow, Scotland, 1888 [as The Soldier's Return] Published ReferencesJohn Ruskin, _Notes on some of the principal pictures exhibited in the rooms of the Royal Academy No. II_ (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1856), 15 John Ruskin, _Notes on some of the principal pictures exhibited in the rooms of the Royal Academy No. IV_ (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1858) Samuel Smiles, _Self-help; With Illustrations of Character and Conduct_ (Boston: Ticknor and Fileds, 1859), 126-27. The Rev. Peter Chalmers, _Historical and Statistical account of the parish of Dunfermline_ (Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1859), 205-06 The Art Journal, (London: Virtue & co., 1856), 162 The Art Journal, (London: Virtue & co., 1869), 3 The Art Journal, (London: Virtue & co., 1881), 79 Ernest Chesneau, _The English school of Painting_ (London: Cassell and Co., 1885), 208 Charles Eastlake Smith, _Journals and Correspondence of Lady Eastlake, Vol. II_ (London: John Murray, 1895), 84 Percy Bate, _English Pre-Raphaelite Painters: Their Associates and Successors_ (Brooklyn: Ams Pr Inc, 1901), 72. ISBN: 978-0404006914 John Brown, _Letters of Dr. John Brown (ed. his son and D. W. Forest)_, (London: A& C Black, 1907) letter Feb. 4, 1856, to Lady Trevelyan David and Francine Irwin, _Scottish Painters at Home and Abroad, 1700-1900_ (London: Faber and Faber, 1975), 57-58. ISBN: 978-0571088225 J.M.W. Hichberger, _Images of the Army: The Military in British Art, 1815-1914_ (Manchester: Manchester Univ Pr, 1988), 159, 170-71. ISBN: 978-0719026751 M.H. Noel Paton, _Noel Paton, 1821-1901_ (Edinburgh: Ramsay Head Press, 1991), 33. ISBN: 978-0902859975; Sir Oliver Millar, _The Victorian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen_ Volume I and II. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1993) Vol. I, 199, Vol. II, no. 460. ISBN: 978-0521265225 Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 41, fig. 37. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1
Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2006.
Sir Joseph Noel Paton
ca. 1859
Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2006.
Sir Joseph Noel Paton
ca. 1855-56
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