Which children's author was inspired by this painting? The great British art quiz

The Pinch of Poverty, 1891, by Thomas Benjamin Kennington (1856-1916). Photograph: Coram in the care of the Foundling Museum

This quiz is brought to you in collaboration with Art UK, the online home for the UK’s public art collections, showing art from more than 3,000 venues and by 45,000 artists. Each day, a different collection on Art UK will set the questions.

Today, our questions are set by the Foundling Museum, which tells the remarkable story of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity and first public art gallery. By transforming disadvantaged children’s lives through the arts, the museum continues the work of the hospital’s governors, Hogarth and Handel, and through its collections, exhibitions, commissions and participatory projects, it inspires people to make the world a better place.

You can see art from the Foundling Museum on Art UK here. Find out more on the Foundling Museum website here.

1. 

   Who is the artist most famously connected with the Foundling Hospital?

   1. Allan Ramsey

   2. Joseph Highmore

   3. Joshua Reynolds

   4. William Hogarth

2. 

   Isabella, Duchess of Manchester, was an early supporter of the Foundling Hospital. She has been represented as which Roman goddess in this portrait?

   1. Juno

   2. Diana

   3. Ceres

   4. Minerva

3. 

   Which famous foundling features in the Court Room at the Foundling Museum?

   1. Heathcliff

   2. Moses

   3. Tom Jones

   4. Oliver Twist

4. 

   Gainsborough was famous for portraits set within landscapes. How old was he when he created this roundel for the Foundling Hospital’s Court Room?

   1. 21

   2. 18

   3. 29

   4. 35

5. 

   This painting by Thomas Kennington is a favourite of visitors to the Foundling Museum. It is thought to have inspired a character in a story by which children’s author?

   1. Michael Morpurgo

   2. Enid Blyton

   3. Jacqueline Wilson

   4. Frances Hodgson Burnett

6. 

   Which artist made this bust of the composer George Frideric Handel, another great supporter of the Foundling Hospital?

   1. Auguste Rodin

   2. Louis François Roubiliac

   3. John Michael Rysbrack

   4. Jacob Epstein

7. 

   What is the well-known song whose words are being sold by the pregnant ballad-seller in the museum’s masterpiece by William Hogarth, The March of the Guards to Finchley?

   1. Uptown Funk

   2. Charlie is My Darling

   3. God Save the King

   4. Over the Hills and Far Away

8. 

   What musical instrument is the boy holding in this sculpture by contemporary artist Yinka Shonibare?

   1. French Horn

   2. Fife

   3. Cornet

   4. Trumpet

Solutions

1:D - Hogarth’s portrait of Thomas Coram, the man who established the Foundling Hospital, was the first painting donated to the charity. Hogarth’s gift inspired leading artists of the day to follow suit and led to the hospital becoming the UK’s first public art gallery, as well as its first children’s charity. As a child, Hogarth’s family had fallen on hard times, which made him a particularly sympathetic and committed supporter. Image: Captain Thomas Coram (1668-1751), 1740, William Hogarth (1697-1764), Coram in the care of the Foundling Museum, 2:B - Isabella was one of the 21 ‘ladies of quality and distinction’ who signed Coram’s first petition and whose pioneering support turned the tide of his campaign. The Foundling Hospital’s Royal Charter was granted in 1739, but the charter names only the men who signed a later petition. The women's contribution was sidelined until 2018, when their portraits were tracked down for a celebratory exhibition and the museum acquired this painting. Image: Isabella Duchess of Manchester (1706-1786), 1738, Andrea Soldi (c 1703-1771), Whitfield Fine Art, 3:B - Moses features in two paintings by Hogarth and Francis Hayman. His abandonment and rescue by the pharaoh’s daughter, mirrors the care given to the babies brought to the Foundling Hospital. The other famous foundlings have featured in works created for the museum by Foundling Fellows Lily Cole and Lemn Sissay, and artist Pablo Bronstein. Sissay’s powerful mural, Superman was a Foundling, highlights the importance of the looked-after child in storytelling. Image: The Foundling Museum, © GG Archard, 4:A - The young Gainsborough worked as an assistant to Francis Hayman, who also donated a painting to the Court Room. Hayman designed theatre sets, too, and was responsible for the decorations at London’s popular outdoor entertainment venue, Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. This painting, one of Gainsborough’s earliest commissions, demonstrates the museum’s commitment to showcasing the work of young artists and musicians, through exhibitions, commissions and public events. Image: The Charterhouse, 1748, Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), Coram in the care of the Foundling Museum, 5:C - In 2008, Dame Jacqueline Wilson became one of the museum’s first Foundling Fellows. The following year she published Hetty Feather, her first historical novel, which is set in the 19th-century Foundling Hospital. This painting may have inspired the character of Sissy, a child flower seller. The novel was the beginning of a hugely popular series of Hetty Feather books, which were recently serialised for BBC children’s television. Image: The Pinch of Poverty, 1891, Thomas Benjamin Kennington (1856-1916), Coram in the care of the Foundling Museum, 6:B - Handel’s annual benefit concerts for the Foundling Hospital, from 1749 until his death 10 years later, raised over £7,000 for the charity and established the popularity of his oratorio, Messiah. Roubiliac also created a full-length, life-size sculpture of Handel for Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens and Handel’s monument in Westminster Abbey. Many artists, performers and musicians associated with the Foundling Hospital were also connected through the entertainments at Vauxhall. Image: George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), c 1739, Louis François Roubiliac (1695/1702-1762), the Foundling Museum, 7:C - Called up to defend London against Jacobite invaders, a Grenadier’s loyalty to his pregnant, Protestant girlfriend is being challenged by his Catholic ex, reflecting the choice facing British citizens. God Save the King was enjoying a wave of popularity in 1745, as a pro-Hanoverian anthem. Thomas Arne (1710-1778), composer of Rule Britannia, had recently given it a new musical setting, performed at Covent Garden and Drury Lane theatres. Image: The March of the Guards to Finchley, 1749-1750, William Hogarth (1697-1764), The Foundling Museum, 8:C - Trumpet Boy speaks to the Foundling Hospital’s origins in Enlightenment thinking and the value it placed on education and training. Dressed in Victorian clothes made from ‘African’ textiles, and with a head made from a celestial globe whose stars have been renamed after famous black musicians, the sculpture is a metaphor for the universal and unifying nature of music, and the ability of education and art to transform lives. Image: Trumpet Boy, 2010, Yinka Shonibare (b1962) © Yinka Shonibare CBE. All rights reserved, DACS 2020. The Foundling Museum

Scores

1. 6 and above.

   Congratulations – treat yourself to whatever you currently can in lockdown.

2. 0 and above.

   A valiant effort, but when it came to the Foundling you lost the plot.

3. 3 and above.

   A creditable result – you know your waifs from your strays.