Jehu Driving Furiously by Gertrude Jekyll

This scene painted by Gertrude Jekyll in 1865, illustrates a biblical text (2 Kings 9:20) which marks the beginning of Jehu’s bloody passage to kingship. He became the tenth king of the northern Kingdom of Israel and reigned for 28 years . Jekyll aged 18, studied at Henry Cole’s South Kensington School of Art where she met influential figures of the day: Ruskin, Burne-Jones, Watts and Rossetti. Later an eminent eye-specialist advised Miss Jekyll to give up close work such as painting and embroidery, after which gardening became her main interest.