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Simeon Solomon is in Painters.
On 9th October 1840 Simeon Solomon was born to [his father] Michael Meyer Solomon.
In December 1854 Henry Holiday (age 15) entered the Royal Academy Schools as a probationer. His fellow students included Simeon Solomon (age 14), Albert Moore (age 13), William Blake Richmond (age 12), William De Morgan (age 15), Frederick Walker, and Marcus Stone (age 14).
On 24th April 1856 Simeon Solomon (age 15) was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools, having been proposed by the Victorian painter Augustus Egg, R.A.
1857. Simeon Solomon (age 16). "Sappho and Erinna in a garden at Mytilene ".
Around 1857 Simeon Solomon (age 16) was introduced by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (age 28) to members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood including Algernon Charles Swinburne (age 19) and Edward Coley Burne-Jones 1st Baronet (age 23).
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1855-1857. 7th April 1857. Went to [his brother] Solomon's (age 33). He has a grand picture, "Waiting for the Verdict." Saw some remarkable designs by his young brother (Simeon (age 16)) showing much Rossetti-like feeling.
In 1858 Simeon Solomon (age 17) exhibited at the Royal Academy.
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1858. 13th February 1858. February 13. Miss Cooke came to sit for me. Little Simeon Solomon (age 17) called and stayed a long while and jawed and bored us considerably. Burges came up and I introduced them.
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1858. 19th February 1858. February 19. [his brother] Solomon's (age 34) weekly re-union. Tea and fish, wine and cake. Much interested with a book of sketches by young Simeon (age 17).
1859. Simeon Solomon (age 18). Self-Portrait.
The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy
The Gesta Normannorum Ducum [The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy] is a landmark medieval chronicle tracing the rise and fall of the Norman dynasty from its early roots through the pivotal events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Originally penned in Latin by the monk William of Jumièges shortly before 1060 and later expanded at the behest of William the Conqueror, the work chronicles the deeds, politics, battles, and leadership of the Norman dukes, especially William’s own claim to the English throne. The narrative combines earlier historical sources with firsthand information and oral testimony to present an authoritative account of Normandy’s transformation from a Viking settlement into one of medieval Europe’s most powerful realms. William’s history emphasizes the legitimacy, military prowess, and governance of the Norman line, framing their expansion, including the conquest of England, as both divinely sanctioned and noble in purpose. Later chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni continued the history, extending the coverage into the 12th century, providing broader context on ducal rule and its impact. Today this classic work remains a foundational source for understanding Norman identity, medieval statesmanship, and the historical forces that reshaped England and Western Europe between 800AD and 1100AD.
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1859. Simeon Solomon (age 18). "Mrs. Fanny Eaton (age 23)".
1859 to 1863. Simeon Solomon (age 18). "Dante's First Meeting with Beatrice".
1859. Simeon Solomon (age 18). "Babylon hath been a golden cup". Pen and ink. One of the illustrations for the "Bible Gallery", a hundred-print collection of engravings conceived by the brothers Dalziel in 1859. This drawing depicts the Jewish King David and the maiden, Abishag, looking concerned and androgynous, and illustrates a passage in Jeremiah lamentating the Jewish people's captivity by the kingdom of Babylon: 'Babylon hath been a golden cup in the hand of God, which hath made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine, therefore all the nations are mad.' The drawing was considered too risque for the Bible Gallery, and was exhibited separately at the French Gallery Winter Exhibition in 1859. Source.
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1859. 3rd January 1859. Took Simeon Solomon (age 18) to the Hogarth to see the works exhibited. Rossetti (age 30) has a beautiful solemn purple drawing of Mary in the house of John. As Simeon said, "The impression of intense, thoughtful repose after the strife and excitement of the previous years is most impressive." R. also sent my little "Caper Nimbly" drawing, but has changed the subject into a "Borgia," and made the old grey-haired man into a Pope.
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1859. 30th April 1859. Found Simeon Solomon (age 18) and Poynter in Burges' room and appropriated (by leave) a caricature by Simeon of Morris and his wife.
1860. Simeon Solomon (age 19). "The Mother of Moses". Model Fanny Entwhistle aka Eaton (age 24).
On 10th May 1860 [his brother] Abraham Solomon (age 37) and [his sister-in-law] Ella Hart were married.
1862. Simeon Solomon (age 21). "Ruth and Boaz".
On 19th December 1862 [his brother] Abraham Solomon (age 39) died.
1863. Simeon Solomon (age 22). "The Deacon".
1864. Simeon Solomon (age 23). "A priestess of Diana offering Poppies".
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1864. 21st November 1864. November 21. Nelly Smith called. She was not looking well. Has been sitting to Simeon Solomon (age 24), Poynter, Stanhopé, Jones, Pinwell, and a man of the name of Linton? Sent 12 sketches and studies for Winter Exhibition at O.W.C. Gallery.
Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses
Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.
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1865. Simeon Solomon (age 24). "In the Temple of Venus".
1865. Simeon Solomon (age 24). "Habet". Model top right probably Fanny Eaton (age 29)".
1865. Simeon Solomon (age 24). "Coptic Baptismal Procession".
1866. Simeon Solomon (age 25). "Damon and Aglae".
1866. Frederick Hollyer (age 27). Photograph of Simeon Solomon (age 25).
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1866. 8th April 1866 (Sunday). To Fred Leighton's (age 35) to breakfast, meeting there Gabriel (age 37) and Wm. Rossetti (age 36) and Simeon Solomon (age 25). L. excessively jolly and interesting. Has a large picture, young Greek girls in procession to sacrifice to Diana the first large picture1 he has painted.
Note 1. See The Syracusan Bride leading Wild Animals in Procession to the Temple of Diana.
1868. Simeon Solomon (age 27). "Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene".
1868. Simeon Solomon (age 27). "A Prelude by Bach".
William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
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The Diary of George Price Boyce 1868. 8th November 1868. November 8 (Sunday). Dined at Club, Simeon Solomon (age 28) there. He. introduced me to Mr. Oscar Browning. Billiards. Cooper said that there was a report that the young lady who threw herself off London Bridge a few days ago and was drowned, was no other than poor Ellen Terry (age 21) (Mrs. G. F. Watts) and that it was after a quarrel with her sister about her continuing on the stage.
1869. Simeon Solomon (age 28). "Pastoral Lovers".
1871. Simeon Solomon (age 30). "Rabbi Carrying the Law".
1873. Simeon Solomon (age 32). "Night".
On the on the 11th February 1873, at the age of thirty-two and at the height of his artistic career, Solomon (age 32) was arrested with George Roberts, a sixty-year-old illiterate stableman in a public urinal, by police constable William Mitchell, around the corner from Marylebone Lane Police Station, in Stratford Place Mews, off Oxford Street. On the following day magistrate, Lieutenant L. T. D'Eyncourt, of the Marylebone Police Court, read the charge that both men had "unlawfully attempt feloniously to commit the abominable crime of buggery". Roberts protested that it was a false charge and when prompted, Solomon acquiesced that it was "equally so" with him. Despite their protests, both men were found guilty of attempted sodomy, but after his six week detainment in the Clerkenwell House of Detention, the artist was subsequently released to the care of his cousin Myer Salaman on a surety of £100, and the promise that he behaved himself.
1874. Simeon Solomon (age 33). "A Hebrew Girl".
1874. Simeon Solomon (age 33). "A Bishop of the Eastern Church".
1880. Simeon Solomon (age 39). "Doubt".
Anne Boleyn. Her Life as told by Lancelot de Carle's 1536 Letter.
In 1536, two weeks after the execution of Anne Boleyn, her brother George and four others, Lancelot du Carle, wrote an extraordinary letter that described Anne's life, and her trial and execution, to which he was a witness. This book presents a new translation of that letter, with additional material from other contemporary sources such as Letters, Hall's and Wriothesley's Chronicles, the pamphlets of Wynkyn the Worde, the Memorial of George Constantyne, the Portuguese Letter and the Baga de Secrets, all of which are provided in Appendices.
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In 1884 Simeon Solomon (age 43) was admitted to the St Gile's Workshouse, Bloomsbury [Map].
1884. Simeon Solomon (age 43). "The Annunciation".
Around 1888. Simeon Solomon (age 47). "Study of a Youth".
1892. Simeon Solomon (age 51). "Night and her Child Sleep".
1893. Simeon Solomon (age 52). "In the Summer Twilight".
1895. Simeon Solomon (age 54). "The Forsaken Ariadne".
1896. Frederick Hollyer (age 57). Photograph of Simeon Solomon (age 55).
1896. Simeon Solomon (age 55). "Orpheus".
1896. Simeon Solomon (age 55). "Mater Christi Alma".
1903. Simeon Solomon (age 62). "The Boy John".
Before 1905. Simeon Solomon (age 64). "The Knight of the Lord's Passion".
Before 1905. Simeon Solomon (age 64). "Sleep Gentle Sleep".
On 14th August 1905 Simeon Solomon (age 64) died in the dining-room of St Gile's Workshouse, Bloomsbury [Map] from complications brought on by alcoholism. He was buried at Willesden Cemetery.
"Inquest." The Times, 18 August 1905:
Mr. Walter Schroder held an inquest at St. Giles's Coroner's Court yesterday regarding the death of Simeon Solomon, aged 63, bachelor, an oil-painter, who was described as of the pre-Raphaelite school and at one time an associate of Rossetti and Burne-Jones. Solomon, according to his cousin, Mr. G. J. Nathan, of late years had led an intemperate and irregular life. The witness last saw him alive in May, when he gave him an outfit of clothes and money. He also gave him a commission for a drawing which was never executed. People highly placed in society would have liked him to paint pictures for them, but he could not be relied on to execute any commission. Other evidence showed that Solomon had been "off and on" an inmate of St. Giles's Workhouse during the past five years. On Wednesday, May 24 last, after the visit to his cousin, he was found lying on the footpath in Great Turnstile, High Holborn. He complained of illness and was conveyed to King's College Hospital, whence he was transferred to St. Giles's Workhouse. He was then suffering from bronchitis and alcoholism. He remained in the house, and on Monday morning last suddenly expired in the dining hall from, as Dr. A. C. Allen, the medical officer testified, heart failure consequent on aortic disease of that organ and other ailments. The jury returned a verdict accordingly. It was stated that a picture by the deceased recently sold at Christie's realised 250 guineas and that in former days several of his paintings were exhibited at the Royal Academy.