View source for God Speed (painting)

{{Short description|1900 painting by Edmund Leighton}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox artwork
| title=God Speed
| image_file=Leighton-God Speed!.jpg
| artist=[[Edmund Leighton]]
| year=1900
| medium=[[Oil painting|Oil on canvas]]
| height_metric=160
| width_metric=116
| height_imperial=
| width_imperial=
| metric_unit=cm
| imperial_unit=in
| city = [[Private collection]]
}}
'''''God Speed''''' is a painting by British artist [[Edmund Leighton]], depicting an armored knight departing to war and leaving his beloved. The painting was exhibited at the [[Royal Academy of Arts]] in 1900.<ref name="Sotheby's">{{cite web | url =http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/british-irish-art/lot.26.html| title =Lot 26 |publisher =[[Sotheby's]]| accessdate = 28 June 2014}}</ref> ''God Speed'' was the first of several paintings by Leighton during the 1900s on the subject of [[chivalry]], including ''[[The Accolade (Leighton)|The Accolade]]'' (1901) and ''[[:File:Edmund Blair Leighton - The Dedication (1908).jpg|The Dedication]]'' (1908).

==Composition==
A woman ties a red sash around a knight's arm,<ref>{{cite web |title=Leighton {{!}} 19th century european paintings |url=http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2007/19th-century-european-art-n08303/lot.187.html |website=Sotheby's |accessdate=15 November 2020}}</ref> bidding farewell before battle.

When the painting was ready for transportation to the Royal Academy, Leighton made a last-moment change in the studio.<ref name="artmag">{{cite web| url =http://www.artmagick.com/articles/article.aspx?id=11813| title =The Art of Mr. E. Blair Leighton| publisher =ArtMagick| author =Rudolph De Cordova| accessdate =28 July 2016| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160918162639/http://www.artmagick.com/articles/article.aspx?id=11813| archive-date =18 September 2016| url-status =dead}}</ref> He scraped out the work of a week and within two hours made his desired change.<ref name="artmag"/>

==Provenance==
After being bought from Leighton, the painting was owned by several people in succession and eventually was put up for sale at [[Christie's]] in 1988.<ref name="Sotheby's"/> It was then housed in an American private collection and in 2000 was again submitted to Christie's.<ref name="Sotheby's"/>

In 2007, the painting appeared at [[Sotheby's]] and then in a British private collection.<ref name="Sotheby's"/> On 10 May 2012, ''God Speed'' was sold again through Sotheby's in London to a private collector for £481,250.<ref name="Sotheby's"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:God Speed (painting)}}
[[Category:1900 paintings]]
[[Category:History paintings]]
[[Category:Paintings by Edmund Leighton]]
[[Category:Women in art]]
[[Category:War paintings]]
[[Category:Horses in art]]


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