On the edge of the ring, guarded, stood Brother Bartholome and the Carmelite

On the edge of the ring, guarded, stood Brother Bartholome and the Carmelite
On the edge of the ring, guarded, stood Brother Bartholome and the Carmelite

On the edge of the ring, guarded, stood Brother Bartholome and the Carmelite

Date1898
Artist (American illustrator, 1853–1911)
Illustration Citation"Poisoned Ice," by 'Q', in Collier's Weekly, December 10, 1898.
MediumOil on canvas mounted to paperboard
Dimensions19 × 13 1/4 in. (48.3 × 33.7 cm)
frame: 24 × 18 1/4 in. (61 × 46.4 cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, 1912
Object number1912-1
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPAINTING
Label TextIn this fictional story of 17th century Panama (then an outpost of the Spanish empire), a band of pirates determined to plunder a church's treasures has killed one of the people harboring there. The resident friar lures the marauders to his cell to taste the liquor for which the chapel is famous. Offering to cool their drinks, he plans to kill the pirates with the ice which he has poisoned in anticipation of their attack. But the pirates - fearing poison - have demanded that the friar serve the iced drinks to everyone and to drink one
himself, and so only the narrator survives to tell the story.

The author “Q” was the occasional pen name of Arthur Quiller-Couch, British academic, poet and novelist.


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