Analysis of the Secret of Englands Greatness

The painting "The secret of England's greatness" is painted by Thomas Jones Parker in 1863. The painting takes place in England, under the Victorian Etiquette. In the painting we see Queen Victoria handing a bible to a black man, who looks like an African king, but in this situation he is inferior to the kingdom of England. The situation and actions in the picture, looks very organized and staged. The picture is organized to make the viewers notice Queen Victoria's power over the black man, which could symbolize the power of the British Empire at that time. The picture's purpose is to show the English power and dominants. The painter has made the light focus on Queen Victoria's white dress. As we can see on the picture, her dress is white which could be a symbolic sign of purity, and the blue train symbolizes the royal blood.

There are six persons in the picture, but the most eye-catching, is Queen Victoria and the black man, because of the painters choice of colures. The black man is wearing lights colours and a leopard sleeves which makes him seem primitive. The light colours really brings out the black mans skin colour. His whiteness is not the same as Queen Victoria's.

Queen Victoria's dress has a blue veil which has the effect that its makes the viewer notice her more then the people standing behind her. Both Queen Victoria and the black man are in the centre of the picture. The golden section is by the queen, the bible and the black man. The purpose of placing the golden section there is to make the viewer focus on the situation. The situation in the picture appears to be very staged. The black mans body language also seems to be vey nervous and fearful because he only has one hand on the bible.

The overall message in the painting is that England has a great gift to offer the rest of the world, which appears to be Christianity. Its also sends the message that people with a darker skin colour should worship the English people.