Portrait of Eva Butler with Dove
by MUNRO, Alexander, White marble relief, set in veined green marble frame, diameter 42 cm
During the 1850’s Munro spent a great deal of time in Oxford where he stayed with the Butlers, and in time he produced three portraits of Josephine Butler and three of her daughter Eva.
Munro was drawn to the romantic aspects of nature, and took great delight in including birds, flowers and stars in his whimsical portraits. These beautiful and sensitively rendered reliefs of young Eva Butler tenderly embracing a dove demonstrate Munro’s affinity for portraying women and children.