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Notes
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The painting must be read from left to right for the description unfolds like a sculpted frieze. The last warm rays of the sun come in at the window; the grandfather sits at the head of the supper table waiting with his eldest grandson while three children say goodnight to their father, and the fifth says his prayers at his grandmother's feet. Thomas Webster uses the light, as it passes across the room, to unify the whole picture, which might otherwise be spread out and disconnected. He also uses it to emphasise the descriptive elements of the painting such as the faces or the washbasin and the bed in the room beyond. More incidental details, such as the objects on the mantelpiece or the bed creel or flake suspended above the fireplace (which protected produce from vermin), are in the shade and drawn very sketchily.
Title
Good Night!
Date
1846
Medium
oil on panel
Measurements
H 71.4 x W 118.7 cm
Accession number
K2676
Acquisition method
purchased, 1957
Work type
Painting