Maria Spilsbury Taylor (1776-1820) lived and worked in London and Ireland and was patronized by the Prince Regent. A painter of portraits, genre scenes, biblical subjects and large crowd compositions - an unusual feature in women's art of this period - she is represented in major museums and art galleries as well as in numerous private collections. Her work, hitherto considered on a purely decorative level, merits closer attention. For the first time, this volume argues the relevance of Spilsbury's religious background, and in particular her evangelical and Moravian connections, to the interpretation of her art and examines her pervasive, and often inovert references to the Bible, hymnody and religious writing. The art that emerges is distinctly Protestant and evangelical, offering a vivid illustration of the mood of patriotic, Protestant fervour that characterized the quarter century succeeding the French revolution. This focus may be situated in the general context of increasing interest in the religious faith of historical actors - men and women - in the eighteenth century, and in the related contexts of growing acknowledgement of a religious aspect to "enlightenment" art, as well as investigations into Protestant culture in Ireland. The book is extensively illustrated and contains a list of all of Spilsbury's known works.

Following official protection of natural environments for public benefit in Fontainebleau Forest in France (1861) and in Yosemite (1864) and Yellowstone (1872) in the USA, the New Forest Act of 1877 marked the first major instance in Britain. Art and artists were involved in this achievement to a greater extent than in all preceding cases. For the first time, and within an ecocritical framework, this study examines the role played by art during the previous anti-enclosure campaign - highlighting both the hitherto-unacknowledged extent of German influence in terms of the original artistic initiative and of German artists' participation in the cause, as well as the significance of connections between landscape art of the day and priorities of the early Open Spaces movement. Ecocriticism in art history With works by the German and British artists George Bouverie Goddard, Wilhelm Kumpel, Alfred Pizzi Newton, Wilhelm Trautschold, Edmund George Warren