Frederick Goodall R.A. (1822-1904)

"Rachel and her Flock. And Behold, 'Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep' "

Oil on canvas, signed with monogram and dated 1874

97 x 178 cm.

By 1875 Goodall had become a leading Royal Academician and was one of the foremost painters of biblical and Egyptian scenes. He studied under his father and then at the Clipstone Academy, London, working as an engraver until his precocious talent was spotted by John Ruskin and J. M. W. Turner who encouraged him to paint. He won many medals and exhibited widely showing 179 works at the Royal Academy. He first travelled east to Egypt in 1858, where he befriended the great Orientalist painter, Carl Haag. Among his patrons were the British royal family, aristocracy and leading industrialists.

When Goodall showed this work in 1875 it was given place of honour and considered a very important work. Begun in 1873, it was painted at his newly built home in Harrow, the sheep were modelled from a flock he had brought back from Egypt. Today he is represented in many major collections including Yale Center for British Art, New Haven; the Kunsthalle, Hamburg; the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and in London at the Tate Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum.