Background
He was born at Dickleburgh, near Diss, Norfolk.
He was born at Dickleburgh, near Diss, Norfolk.
At the age of fourteen he began working as an architectural and topographical draughtsman for the antiquary John Britton. In 1850 he withdrew from active connection with this society, and took to painting in oil. His most fertile period was between 1833 and 1850.
He also enjoyed professional honors in Amsterdam and in Belgium. Among his leading works are The Murder of the Bishop of Liege, The Armourer relating the Story of the Sword, The Assassination of the Regent Murray by Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, and (in oil) A Terrible Secret. He collaborated on illustrations for Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge.
Cattermole specialized in rendering scenes of chivalry, of medievalism, and generally of the romantic aspects of the past. Cattermole is buried in West Norwood Cemetery, near the tomb of his first employer John Britton.
At the Paris Exhibition of 1855 he received one of the five first-class gold medals awarded to British painters.
(Gallery-Wrapped Canvas entitled 'George Cattermole 1800 -...)
