Missing Work
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| Photo of Highfield Lodge, Bridell's studio in 1857 |
Following a period in London, Bridell acquired a studio in Highfield Road, Southampton. Here he painted a large work to illustrate a passage in Spenser’s Faerie Queene, for his patron, James Wolff.
It was intentionally painted the same size as two works in the National Gallery, 90 x 60 ins.,one by the Claude and the other by Turner. Bridell hoped that one day, The Temple of Venus would hang between the two.
The painting has not been seen publicly or photographed. It is possible that it contained similar subject matter to the Temple of Vesta now in Southampton Art Gallery. After the Bridell Sale of 1864, the picture was acquired by Andrew Kurtz, a Liverpool industrialist. Thereafter, the painting has appeared once at auction in May 1891 (Christie’s) and was sold to a Mr.King. Its present location is unknown.