# Reading the Will

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/wilkie-sir-david-r784f49b93b5a2b/reading-the-will-r6aa8d443f35edd>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [WILKIE, Sir David](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/wilkie-sir-david-r784f49b93b5a2b>)
- Date: 1801-1850
- Technique: Oil on canvas, 76 x 115 cm

## Commentary

Narrative painting was fashionable in Britain, and one of the most celebrated painters in this genre was Sir David Wilkie. The Reading the Will was commissioned by the King of Bavaria, Max I Joseph, and it immediately made the artist famous.

## Related artworks

- [Chelsea Pensioners Reading the Waterloo Dispatch \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/wilkie-sir-david-r784f49b93b5a2b/chelsea-pensioners-reading-the-waterloo-dispatch-detail-red88692d33c86a>)
- [Chelsea Pensioners Reading the Waterloo Dispatch](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/wilkie-sir-david-r784f49b93b5a2b/chelsea-pensioners-reading-the-waterloo-dispatch-rade72e1c6828f5>)
- [Josephine and the Fortune-Teller](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/wilkie-sir-david-r784f49b93b5a2b/josephine-and-the-fortune-teller-r698900ad26ba8d>)
- [Queen Victoria \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/wilkie-sir-david-r784f49b93b5a2b/queen-victoria-detail-r5df114cc232b0a>)
- [Sotiri, Dragoman of Mr Colquhoun](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/wilkie-sir-david-r784f49b93b5a2b/sotiri-dragoman-of-mr-colquhoun-r08f5045909b445>)
- [The Defence of Saragossa](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/wilkie-sir-david-r784f49b93b5a2b/the-defence-of-saragossa-r73c8710a2a9a11>)
- [The First Council of Queen Victoria](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/wilkie-sir-david-r784f49b93b5a2b/the-first-council-of-queen-victoria-rf149043ae14218>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)