SIR DAVID WILKIE (1785-1841)
The Penny Wedding
Signed and dated 1818RCIN 405536
This lively scene of music and dancing by the Scottish artist Sir David Wilkie shows a traditional type of Scottish wedding in which guests paid a subscription to cover the costs of the wedding feast. Wilkie was probably inspired by Dutch and Flemish genre paintings of similar subjects. George IV commissioned this work from Wilkie and in 1823 appointed the artist Limner to the King of Scotland.