Rothwell was born at Athlone, Ireland, in 1800, and after studying in the Drawing School of the Dublin Society of Arts came to London while quite a young man.  Here he worked for some time as an assistant in the studio of Sir Thomas Lawrence, who confided to him for completion the portraits left unfinished at his death.  The young artist then commenced to paint portraits on his own account, and with some success, especially in his pictures of females, which are very graceful in contour and brilliant in color; of course there is not a little resemblance in the work of the pupil to that of the master.  His good fortune does not, however, seem to have followed him past middle life, and about the middle of the century his portraits began to go out of fashion.  In later years he became a genre painter, or, at any rate, he seems to have turned his attention much more to subjects of that class.  “Novitiate Mendicants” was one of his earlier undertakings in that line; it was exhibited at the London Royal Academy, in 1857, under the title of “Poor Mendicants.”  In all probability it was painted in Ireland, for the face of the young girl is decidedly Irish.  Yet the children are not dressed in rags, and it is quite certain that no beggar of any experience would send his children out to ask alms is such a prosperous condition.  The probability is that the artist desired to paint the portraits of the two cottage children whom he met in wandering through the country, and chose for them this pleasing, though in reality scarcely mendicant, attitude.

STEEL ENGRAVING – “NOVITIATE MENDICANTS” from the painting by R. Rothwell, engraved by H. Bourne, printed in 1883.  This engraving is in very good condition.  The engraving measures 9 5/8” x 7 1/4”, and is matted to 12” x 16” for easy framing.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

Antique prints, engravings, and lithographs are printing processes, which use steel, copper, stone or wood blocks or plates to produce a picture on paper.

Most antique prints and engravings, which are seen on the internet today, are bookplates.  Because they are pages from a book, there are multiple copies in existence.  This does not, however, mean that they are "reproductions" that have been printed recently.  Because they were, at some point, part of books, some have been preserved in excellent condition, while others show signs of age, as yellow spots or darkness on the edge of the page from being handled.

Engravings, and lithographs are high quality pieces of art, as it took a highly trained artist many hours of work to produce one.  Although there may be multiple copies still in existence, the date of the item should be stated, thus giving the buyer an idea of its age.