ABRAHAM COOPER IO7 



brush almost exclusively to portraits of animals, 

 if his contributions to the Royal Academy exhibi- 

 tions fairly represent the scope of his work. In 18 16 

 he made a sketch entitled, " The Battle of Ligny," 

 which does not appear in the Exhibition catalogues 

 but for which he was awarded 1 50 guineas. 



This was the first of many battle pieces from 

 his easel ; such scenes naturally appealed to one 

 who delighted to portray horses and men in strong 

 action, and it will be observed that the majority 

 of his battle pictures were designed to this end. 

 Such were " The Battle of Marston Moor," exhibited 

 in 1819 ; "The Combat between Sergeant Bothwell 

 and Balfour of Burley " (Burleigh), a scene from 

 Sir Walter Scott's Old Mortality, exhibited in 

 1820 ; " Cromwell at Marston Moor," depicting 

 the incident which turned the day in favour of the 

 Parliament forces ; the Protector, though wounded 

 in the right arm called up a reserve and placing 

 himself at its head, with the aid of Lord Manchester 

 and others, won the victory. This picture was 

 exhibited in 1821. " Rupert's Standard at Marston 

 Moor " and " The Battle of Strigonium," were 

 among the pictures he sent to the exhibition of 

 the following year. Marston Moor found special 

 favour with Cooper; the exhibitions of 1823, 1852 

 and 1863 also containing pictures inspired by the 

 history of the fight. Other scenes of the civil 



