Portrait of Hilda Downton
Throughout his life Downtown travelled regularly around Europe, at one stage nearly setting up home in Venice. His love of northern Italy coupled with his strong Christian beliefs brought the great Italian and German master painters of the Renaissance period to the foreground of his attention. Having studied the History of Art at Cambridge, Downton was aware of how past art traditions could influence current art developments and he looked to the past rather than the present for his own inspiration as an artist. Downton placed great importance on an artist's individual talent and role as a highly skilled craftsman and with this belief he disapproved of the machine age with its emphasis on mass-production. This commitment to detailed observation and skilled handling of the paint is reflected in his Portrait of Hilda Downton. Downton's sister, Hilda, recalls being asked to sit for this portrait wearing their mother's fur-lined coat so that Downton could study the fabric. Downton's close attention to the fabric and the inclusion of brocade in the background make specific references to art history and to the painting the Ambassadors by Hans Holbein (1497/98-1543).
