George Romney, British art's forgotten genius

'The Ghost of Darius appearing to Atossa'

Romney probably treated this second scene from The Persians as a pendant to the first, in the way that he had previously approached episodes of the Cupid and Psyche story. Flaxman wrote that "the ghost of Darius with the Persians prostrated before him, awed the spectator by grandeur and mystery", and went on: "As Romney was gifted with peculiar powers for historical and ideal painting, so his heart and soul were engaged in the pursuit of it, whenever he could extricate himself from the importunate business of portrait painting. It was his delight by day and study by night, and for this his food and rest were often neglected".