Art UK has updated its cookies policy. By using this website you are agreeing to the use of cookies. To find out more read our updated Use of Cookies policy and our updated Privacy policy.

A Flaw in the Title

Image credit: Royal Holloway, University of London

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

Edmund Blair Leighton’s ‘title’ is both legal and literal. The precise nature of the ‘flaw’ is mysterious, presumably referring to the open document. We are privy to a meeting in a lawyer’s office, in the late–18th century. A well-dressed client leans over the table, awaiting response from the lawyer opposite him. The latter studies an important deed intently. His colleague looks on, quill in mouth. Behind the screen another lawyer works at a window seat, the glimpse of the outside world providing relief. Someone has rummaged through the open chest, its papers now strewn about the floor and around the waste-paper basket. Leighton creates a sense of time in his historical tableau, through these references to past activity and the solution that remains to be solved.

Royal Holloway, University of London

Egham

Title

A Flaw in the Title

Date

1878

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 60.9 x W 91.4 cm

Accession number

THC0035

Acquisition method

purchased for Thomas Holloway, 1883

Work type

Painting

Inscription description

E. BLAIR LEIGHTON. 1878

Normally on display at

Royal Holloway, University of London

Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX England

Not all locations are open to the public. Please contact the gallery or collection for more information
View venue

Topics