"The work is The Hours, created by the USA-born, but long-term UK resident, artist Edwin Austin Abbey, who first made his name in the USA as an illustrator before relocating to England. When Pennsylvania set about rebuilding its State Capitol, it called on its favourite son - even if he happened to be living in Gloucestershire - to decorate the interior of the main chamber."
"The painting you're seeing in the National Gallery was not part of the original contract and was only added later. That's because the Capitol's House Chamber was supposed to have a glass roof, but after a bout of architectural mission creep (and the inevitable cost controversy), extra office floors were added, blocking out the skylight entirely. The now glassless circular space demanded something to fill the void - and Abbey was tasked with filling it."
"Displayed vertically rather than horizontally as in its final form, The Hours is a circular procession of allegorical female figures set against a star-spangled sky that shifts from day to night, with sun and moon marking either side. The figures are thought to be the Horae of Greek mythology - the goddesses of the seasons, natural order, and the passage of time and hours."
Edwin Austin Abbey painted The Hours as a vast circular work originally intended to fill the House Chamber dome of the Pennsylvania State Capitol. Abbey, USA-born but long resident in the UK, produced the scheme after Pennsylvania commissioned him during the Capitol rebuild. Architectural changes removed a planned glass roof and added office floors, creating a glassless circular space that required a decorative solution. A half-size preparatory sketch now hangs at the National Gallery; the full work is usually at Yale. The painting shows a procession of allegorical female figures, likely the Horae, against a sky transitioning from day to night, and its orientation remains debated.
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