147 - Frank William Warwick Topham, Jr.

Frank William Warwick Topham, Jr. (British, 1838-1924) Recruiting for Savonarola (Ye Cannot Serve God Man and Mammon), 1886 oil on canvas signed Frank W. W. Topham and dated (lower right) 50 1/2 x 68 1/2 in. (128.3 x 174 cm) Property from the Collection of Anna Mackin This lot is located in Philadelphia. Framed: 55 x 74 1/2 in. Please contact Fineart@freemansauction.com for a detailed condition report. Exhibited: London, Royal Academy of Arts, The 118th Exhibition, 1886, p. 15, no. 297. Lot Note: Frank William Warwick Topham began his artistic training under the guidance of his father, Francis W. Topham, one of England’s leading nineteenth-century watercolorists. In 1863, father and son traveled together to Italy, particularly Rome and Capri. The journey proved formative for the younger artist, prompting numerous subsequent visits and shaping the course of his artistic career. Scenes of contemporary Italian life and historical subjects became central to his work, characterized by meticulous attention to detail and a masterful handling of color and light. Recruiting for Savonarola (Ye Cannot Serve God and Mammon) was reproduced as an engraving in The Graphic, a popular Victorian illustrated magazine, bringing the image to a wider audience. Set in Florence, the painting depicts a female follower of Girolamo Savonarola, the Dominican friar, preacher, and religious reformer, attempting to recruit a young woman to Savonarola's cause. The contrast between the two figures is striking: the follower wears an austere black dress, while the recruit is dressed in richly embroidered, jewel-encrusted garments. This juxtaposition underscores the tension between Savonarola’s calls for spiritual devotion and renunciation of worldly excess and the material splendor of Florentine Renaissance society. The inscription, “Ye Cannot Serve God and Mammon,” alludes to the biblical admonition against serving both God and worldly wealth, encapsulating Savonarola’s denunciations of ecclesiastical corruption, materialism, and moral compromise.