Background
Elizabeth Thompson was born on November 3, 1846 in Lausanne, Switzerland. She was the daughter of Thomas James Thompson and Christiana Weller. Her sister, Alice Meynell, was a noted essayist and poet.
Via Ricasoli, 66, 50122 Firenze FI, Italy
Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze
Elizabeth Thompson was born on November 3, 1846 in Lausanne, Switzerland. She was the daughter of Thomas James Thompson and Christiana Weller. Her sister, Alice Meynell, was a noted essayist and poet.
Elizabeth began receiving art instruction in 1862, while growing up in Italy. In 1866, Thompson left for South Kensington, London, and enrolled at the Royal Female School of Art.
Some time later, while in Florence, Elizabeth attended the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, where she studied under the tutelage of the artist Giuseppe Bellucci.
Initially, Elizabeth painted religious subjects like The Magnificat (1872), but upon going to Paris in 1870, she was exposed to battle scenes from Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier and Édouard Detaille, and switched her focus to war paintings.
On June 11, 1877 Elizabeth married Sir William Francis Butler and her career largely ended. She would travel to the far reaches of the British Empire together with her husband and raise their children. During that time, Sir William Francis Butler tried to convince her, that the colonial imperialism of the United Kingdom and other European powers might not be in the best interest of the natives in colonial lands. Yet, she continued to paint scenes, showing the valour of the ordinary British soldier.
Elizabeth Thompson also made some black and white illustrations, including of poems by her sister, Alice Meynell, and of works by Thackeray.
Her works were exhibited at the Palace of Fine Arts and The Woman's Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Upon Sir William Francis Butler's retirement from the army, the family moved to Ireland, where they lived at Bansha Castle, County Tipperary. There, she exhibited her works at the Royal Hibernian Academy.
Ploughing in Tuscany
Ruins of the Crusaders’ Banqueting Hall, Athleet
Steady the Drums and Fifes
In the Hollow of His Hand
The 28th Regiment at Quatre Bras, 1815
Ain Kareem, reputed birthplace of John the Baptist, from roof of Convent of the Visitation
Bringing in the Grapes
A Son of the Soil, Riviera di Levante
Nazareth at Sunrise
The Hour of Prayer, A Souvenir of Wady Halfa
The Start. Frontispiece
Croagh Patrick
Our First Sight of Lake Galilee
The Inverted Crescent
Balaclava
A Lenten Sermon in the Colosseum
The English General’s Syces
Syndioor on the Lower Nile
A Meeting on the Pincian. French and German Seminarists
Bethany
To the Front
In the Garden of Gethsemane. Noonday. Looking towards Valley of Jehoshaphat
The 'Fostât' becalmed
At Philæ
Bethlehem from the Sheepfold, Field of Boaz
The Start for the Horse Race, Rome
Clew Bay, Co. Mayo
Missed
Galilee, looking from near the mouth of the Jordan towards the Mount of Beatitudes and Tabor
Scotland Forever!
The Cape 'Flats'
St. Jean d’Acre
The Plain of the Jordan, looking from New Jericho towards Mount Pisgah
Floreat Etona
The Return From Inkerman
Servants at the Gate
Our Escort into Glenaragh
The Plain of Esdraelon, from foot of Tabor, with the village of Naim in distance
Registering Fellaheen for the Conscription
Abu Simbel at Sunrise
In a Cairo Bazaar
A Corner of our Garden at Rosebank
The Roll Call
Solomon’s Pools, near Jerusalem, looking towards Dead Sea
Galilee, looking towards Hermon
A Chapel-of-Ease
A Little Irish River
The Bersaglieri at the Fountain, Perugia
A 'Lament' in the Desert
The Camel Corps
No Mooring To-night
Jaffa
The remnants of an army, Jellalabad, January 13, 1842
Site of the House of the Last Supper
The Defense of Rorke's Drift, January 22, 1879
Elizabeth Thompson became a Roman Catholic along with the rest of the family after they moved to Florence in 1869.
Quotations: "I never painted for the glory of war, but to portray its pathos and heroism."
Elizabeth married Sir William Francis Butler, a distinguished officer of the British Army, on June 11, 1877. The couple had six children.