God Speed (painting)
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox artwork 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.[1] God Speed was the first of several paintings by Leighton during the 1900s on the subject of chivalry, including The Accolade (1901) and The Dedication (1908).
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Composition
A woman ties a red sash around a knight's arm,[2] bidding farewell before battle.
When the painting was ready for transportation to the Royal Academy, Leighton made a last-moment change in the studio.[3] He scraped out the work of a week and within two hours made his desired change.[3]
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.[1] It was then housed in an American private collection and in 2000 was again submitted to Christie's.[1]
In 2007, the painting appeared at Sotheby's and then in a British private collection.[1] On 10 May 2012, God Speed was sold again through Sotheby's in London to a private collector for £481,250.[1]