Edith Recovering Harold's Body after the Battle of Hastings

Edith Recovering Harold's Body after the Battle of Hastings is an 1827 history painting by the French artist Horace Vernet.^[1] It depicts the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 during the Norman Conquest of England, where the English monarch Harold Godwinson was defeated and killed in the fighting.

Edith Recovering Harold's Body after the Battle of Hastings
Artist	Horace Vernet
Year	1827
Type	Oil on canvas, history painting
Dimensions	370 cm × 430 cm (150 in × 170 in)
Location	Musée Thomas-Henry, Cherbourg

History and description

The painting shows a famous scene as Edith the Fair, accompanied by some monks, scoured the battlefield for her husband, the fallen Harold. Edith, in the company of an older woman, and a monk, both point to the dead body of the king. He is lying in a broken palisade, partially naked, with a sheet hiding his face which has been disfigured by an arrow.^[2]

British historical themes were very fashionable in France during the Restoration era, particularly those of Walter Scott. Vernet produced several paintings including this one.^[3]

It was one of several historical paintings Vernet exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1827.^[4] In 1828 it was exhibited in London at William Armfield Hobday's gallery in Pall Mall.^[5] Today it is in the collection of Musée Thomas-Henry in Cherbourg.^[6]