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Train Up a Child in the Way He Should Go

Image credit: Herbert Art Gallery & Museum

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Notes

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William Dobson was born in Hamburg in Germany and studied at academies in Germany and Italy. For a time he was headmaster of the School of Design in Birmingham.

The title is taken from a verse in the Bible. It continues 'and when he is old, he will not depart from it'. In the Victorian period paintings with a moral were very popular. They were meant to instruct and improve. In this painting the father shows the child how to plough a straight furrow. At the same time he teaches him to follow a straight moral path through life.

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum

Coventry

Title

Train Up a Child in the Way He Should Go

Date

1859

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 65.2 x W 53.5 cm

Accession number

VA.1955.0152

Acquisition method

bequeathed by Mrs C. Dawes, 1941

Work type

Painting

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum

Jordan Well, Coventry, West Midlands CV1 5QP England

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