The family’s clothing and the bundle of books next to them indicate that they are middle class and educated,[1] and so they are not leaving for the reasons that would force the emigration of the working classes; Brown’s writing touched on the same theme:
The Last of England at wikiwandThe educated are bound to their country by quite other ties than the illiterate man, whose chief consideration is food and physical comfort
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The Last of England at wikiwand
Masterpiece Story: The Last of England by Ford Madox Brown, by James Singer at DailyArt
The Last of England at Khan Academy
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A watercolor version of The Last of England at the Tate
Another version of this painting at The Fitzwilliam
Don’t Miss
A Tragic Self-Portrait at Sea: The Last of England by Ford Madox Brown by Eric Wayne
Thanks for Visiting 🙂
~Sunnyside
At Sunnyside - Where Truth and Beauty Meet 
Wikipedia notes: “Emma Hill became a frequent model for Brown from 1848; for example, she is the wife in The Last of England. She became his mistress, and they shared a house in London, but social convention discouraged him from marrying an illiterate daughter of a bricklayer. Their daughter Catherine Emily was born in 1850, and eventually they were married at St Dunstan-in-the-West in April 1853.”
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Thank you, Steve! 🙂
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Simply beautiful!
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Thanks for visiting, Luisa! 🙂
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It was a pleasure!💐
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Beautiful painting. I often wonder how I would have fared in this, and other situations, such as the pioneers who went west in to California and Oregon.
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I marvel at the tenacity of those who did this! Thanks for sharing your reflections, Timelesslady. 🙂
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Wow, her eyes look super real. 🤓
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Those eyes really are expressive. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Gia. 🙂
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I love this painting with its haunting image of a young couple with infant leaving their country for a better life. The uncertainty of that future is captured well in their facial expressions and the way in which they cling to each other.
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I love this one, too. Those eyes say it all – fear, hope, courage, perseverence… Thanks for sharing your reflections, Rosaliene. 🙂
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The Last of England is currently on loan to the Barber Institute, Birmingham.
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Thanks, catchlight. 🙂
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