Edward Petre Novello (1813-36)

Media credit University of Leeds

Edward Petre Novello was the second son of Vincent and Mary Sabilla Novello, born on 9 May 1813. During childhood he formed ‘The Tortoise Club’ with his elder brother (Joseph) Alfred and their friends, with Alfred known as ‘Clericus’ and Edward ‘Pictor’. He recorded the group’s trips in a bound volume.

He showed early artistic ability and was sent to study at the drawing academy of (John) Henry Sass, then located at 6 Charlotte Street in Bloomsbury, London. Sass’s Academy provided a preparatory training for entry into the prestigious Royal Academy Schools, at which Edward Novello won a place. There he was awarded a silver medal for a drawing from life on 10 December 1831—a prize which he was considered for again two years later, but not awarded as a result of his previous success. In 1828-29 he had been awarded the Silver Isis Medal by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, for a chalk drawing of a statue.

He made copies after Rubens and Rembrandt and exhibited original works at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibitions, including Portrait of Mrs. Honey as Psyche in 1833 and Cupid Riding on a Lion in 1834. The latter was inspired by the epic poem The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser, first published in 1590.

According to his sister Clara’s reminiscences, Edward had been sent to Paris to study at the Louvre at the age of 21. She suggested that he overworked and ruptured a small blood vessel in May 1834, when leaving his studio. He lost blood in the three days that followed and returned to England, where he was treated by Jones Simpson of Carlisle Square, Soho. He was advised to adopt a starvation regime and this treatment was said to have worsened his condition. He stopped painting in oils and moved to Hastings for the sea air, where he died—some later reports suggest of consumption—on 3 January 1836.

His portraits form the main visual representations of the family before photography and include portraits of his father Vincent Novello (c. 1830), his sister Clara Anastasia Novello (1833) and a group portrait of the family and their wider circle (c. 1830), all of which are in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London.