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Village Cricket, 1855
John Ritchie (fl.1841 - 1858)
MCC Collection: bequeathed by Sir Jeremiah Colman, 1947
Oil on canvas
M.1947.TN.1
This charming pastoral scene shows cricket being played in an open field with spectators gathered along a woodland track. The location of the match is not known, and it is likely that the artist intended for it to be representative of any village in southern England, the heartland of cricket.
This scene was perhaps set in a time earlier than it was painted. Artist John Ritchie was known for his rustic scenes, fascination with sixteenth and seventeenth century costume and attentive imitation of nature.
A keen follower of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of artists that emulated the art of late medieval Europe until the time of Raphael, Ritchie combines elements of early Pre-Raphaelitism in the suburb detailed rendering of the woodland track and carpet of grass.