Cinderella

Cinderella, the beloved fairy-tale heroine, appears in this painting from around 1846 in the Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council collection. Fairy-tale and fantasy subjects provided Redgrave with an escape from the social realism of his more characteristic work, allowing him to explore the decorative and imaginative possibilities of narrative painting. Cinderella"s story of virtue rewarded resonated with Victorian moral sensibilities. Richard Redgrave was one of the most socially engaged painters of the Victorian era, using the Royal Academy's exhibitions to draw attention to the plight of governess workers, seamstresses, and other women forced into poorly paid employment by economic necessity.

The fairy-tale subject calls for a lighter, more decorative approach than Redgrave"s social paintings, with brighter colors and more imaginative staging. Cinderella"s transformation scene or domestic servitude provides the narrative moment, rendered with the careful attention to costume and setting that Redgrave brought to all his figurative work. The palette is warmer and more varied than his social-realist paintings, reflecting the fantasy element of the subject.