A Roman Holiday, an oil painting by Frank Markham Skipworth, represents a myriad of color and emotion. The photo displayed in the New Orleans Museum of Art on the second floor in the European paintings’ section of the museum. In a museum where most paintings represent the sternness of these 18th and 19th-century women, I believe that the unique sadness of Skipworth’s subject drew me to this painting. The combination of warm colors and bright white tones would evoke a feeling of warmth and comfort within myself as I first looked upon this painting. The painting depicts two beautiful women in the foreground of a Roman Coliseum and a throng of angry men in the background. The darker haired woman is desperately resting her head upon the shoulder of her lighter haired counterpart. There is a strange sense of relatability that comes from the seemingly ordinary snapshot of two Roman young women. The look of pure desperation on the darker haired subject coupled with the intensity of the characters in the background forces the audience to delegate his or her attention to a single feature of the painting. It is so easy to overlook the chaos of the background as one glance at the painting. Could it be the dark hair contrasting to the bright and warm surroundings of the painting that forces your attention or could it be her orientation? The subtle disposition of her body forces one to acknowledge not just her beauty, but her pain as well. The friend, the subject with the lighter hair, disregards the emotional “ailment” of her dark hair counterpart. This is a way of representing the real world. The term “the real world” represents reality’s way of staying present. This evolutionary ability to keep one’s mind focused on the present is evident by how the two women interact. It is evident that Skipworth wanted to portray these women as dainty, yet real. These women dressed up in their finest whites and their nicest jewelry represent this almost “Real Housewives of Rome” scene. The juxtaposition of these two beautiful women in the foreground and the burly men in the background continues to echo these stereotypes of “sad women” and “angry men” that were ingrained hundreds of years ago but are still seen in our day today. Regarding the historical “differences” between men and women, Skipworth does a great job at portraying both women as truly beautiful, yet tortured souls, yet he made the decision to portray the men as angry and belligerent. With the rather close nature of the two women, I had to ask myself “Is this a picture of two friends or two lovers?”. It is well known that many Roman and greek men engaged with sexual activities with other men, but my high school world history class never touched upon the reality of lesbians in this era. The harder jawline of the lighter hair “friend” could be used to provide ambiguity to the relationship between the two women. The lighter haired female is also the only female in the photo seen to be looking at the scene unfolding on the floor; this subtle action further serves to identify the darker hair female’s deviation from the traditional gaze of the scene. As the dark-haired woman represent this “sad” woman, her “friend” represents this subtle reassurance of safety or hope.
Frank Markham Skipworth, an English portrait painter, born in London in 1859. Skipworth attended the Royal Academy School and became a pupil of William-Adolphe Bouguereau (Frank Markham Skipworth). Bouguereau is considered to be one of the 19th century’s most accomplished painters. Bouguereau would be known for his beautiful classical paintings of the female form in a historical setting. Likewise, Skipworth would specialize in historical portraits of females. As Skipworth is regarded as a well-known artist, it is deduced that the field was receptive to his art. He was welcomed into his domain, yet that does not free him from the critiques of those in the domain, also known as the field or the gatekeepers of the domain. Though the proof that his art was worth critiquing proves that he had entered the domain. Frederick Wedmore, an English art critic would state “austerity is not the characteristic of Mr. Markham Skipworth who paints prettiness rather than character (Wedmore 36). The defiance to portray austerity comes from influence from his mentor, Bouguereau. One’s personal artistic style is inherently specific to the individual and his or her specific experiences. Skipworth was surrounded by art in every facet of his life. He attended an art school, became best friends with fellow artists, and would later go on to marry an artist. His true dedication to art is representative of his love for his craft. He painted numerous oil canvases depicting the beautiful yet historically accurate scenes and portraits.
When analyzing the painting, the critique that Skipworth emphasizes beauty over character becomes evident. Though realizing that a painter who learned under one of the most prolific classical painters would work upon the inspirations of their mentors serves to justify Skipworth’s dedication to his particular style of art. Artists have full freedom when creating these new pieces of art, accordingly, these intricacies in A Roman Holiday are deliberate. Placing these women so close together was purposeful. The one dark hair character in the entire piece being positioned opposite of every other character was a deliberate choice. Skipworth chose to have this character portrayed in a different manner to separate the darker haired female from the rest for a particular reason. The reason is to represent the beauty of sadness. The choice to represent a beautiful tragic female rather than an ugly, yet depressed female is a reflection of Skipworth’s dedication to his particular style. Skipworth wanted to paint a historical piece depicting a Roman Coliseum and the characters that exist within that era, yet he did not want to have to change his style merely because he wanted to portray a different emotion within his piece. This quote by E.M.D regarding “She saw the seething mass, the butchery, Her proud eyes never flinched, nor paled her cheek. Intent and beautiful she gazed unmoved, Whilst at her side, the maid of gentler mood. Alone of that vast throng, with pity stirred, And heart revolting from the unwonted scene, Turned sick away” (Graves 149). This quote serves as a scholarly artistic evaluation of his piece reveals more about the reasons behind the sadness. The events that would occur at these Roman coliseums were typical of a horrific nature, as seen by E.M.D’s description of this “butchery” on the coliseum’s floor. The initial belief that the darker haired female was sad proves to be potentially inaccurate as the men of the background who were so intently focused on what was happening below represent the reality of that era. These coliseum “games” were widely attended by the elites of the era and the men donned all in white proves to be less of a comment on the purity that the color brings to the painting, but the men donned all in white proves to be Skipworth’s dedication to portraying these characters in a historical fashion. As the comment on the darker haired maid “heart revolting from the unwonted scene” relates the emotions on her face to one of pity as opposed to general “sadness” or “depression” first perceives when initially analyzing the painting. Skipworth attention to the historical aspects of his scenes would lead to his relevance in the realm of art for years to come. Despite his death in the early 20th century, Skipworth’s pieces are still noted for their beauty as well as their historical accuracy. A piece like A Roman Holiday successfully combined color, emotion, and history to portray the beauty in the reality of watching a brutal scene unfold on the coliseum floor.