Image: Alexander Pope dying

Description: Alexander Pope dying; from the title page to William Mason's Musæus: a monody to the memory of Mr. Pope, in imitation of Milton’s Lycidas (1747). The following, the source of the artist information verified by the description of the image, is from the opening paragraph (on the sample page) of: “Postscript to the Odyssey”: Pope’s Reluctant Debt to Milton by James Gray. Wiley Online Library. Milton Quarterly, Volume 18, Issue 4, p. 105. 1984. Version of record online: 3 APR 2007. "If it is true that every picture tells a story, the vignette drawn by Francis Hayman and engraved by Charles Grignion in 1747 for the title page of William Mason’s Musaeus: A Monody to the Memory of Mr Pope, In Imitation of Milton’s Lycidas is a notable illustration of that truth. The scene, appropriately, is a grotto, in which a female figure, representing Fame or Virtue, and wearing the creative sunburst or halo of Apollo, is supporting the seated figure of the dying Alexander Pope, while three deeply concerned poets - Milton, Spenser, and Chaucer -all look on. Spenser, in pastoral dress, is the most moved, as he laments the passing of another Colin Clout; Chaucer’s eyes are closed as he meditates once more the shortness of this life; but Milton has a partly wistful, partly pained look, as he clings to his lyre with one hand and, with the other, held reverently across his breast, salutes his declining successor." Due to the date being before Charles Grignion the Younger's birth (see Category:Charles Grignion the Younger), this must have been engraved by Charles Grignion the Elder.
Title: Alexander Pope dying
Credit: From the English-language Wikipedia.
Author: Drawn by Francis Hayman and engraved by Charles Grignion the Elder; see description.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No