The Wedding Register
Edmund Blair Leighton, 1920
The painting shows a couple in Regency-era dress at the moment they make their marriage official before a civil officer and a group of witnesses. In the foreground, the bride, dressed in white with a long veil, leans over the register to sign it with a serious air, while the groom stands slightly behind her, upright, holding his hat and wearing a thoughtful expression. Around them gather family members and guests, among them a little girl who peers over to watch the signing, perhaps thinking of her own wedding day. The dark wood-panelled room and the daylight from a window give the scene an intimate feel. Leighton places the emphasis less on emotion than on the legal bond: each figure's posture reflects the social roles expected of men and women, and the white gown suggests the bride's purity. Dated 1920, a year in which it was shown at the Royal Academy, the work comes from a late stage of the artist's career and offers a gentle reading of the customs of its day.
- Painter
- Edmund Blair Leighton
- Date
- 1920
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 91 × 118 cm
- Museum
- Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery, City of Bristol
- Genre
- genre art
