‘Man Proposes, God Disposes’: A Haunted Painting at the University of London
In 1845 Captain John Franklin led the doomed expedition of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror to navigate the Northwest Passage of the Canadian Arctic. In September of 1846, over a year into their voyage, Erebus and Terror became trapped in the ice near King William Island. Surving off dwindling provisions, the crew of 129 waited two years for rescue that would never come. On 11 June 1847, Captain Franklin died and the remaining crew members abandoned the Erebus and Terror, wandering into the snowy expanse of the Canadian Arctic. They were never seen alive again. The story of the missing ships and crew has been depicted time and time again through various visual and written media (most notably The Terror by Dan Simmons), and expeditions to uncover missing peices of the Erebus and Terror legend have occured ever since.
A notable depiction of the exhibition’s fate is Sir Edwin Landseer’s rather unsettling oil painting Man Proposes, God Disposes, which was completed in 1884 and shown at the Royal Academy exhibition that summer. While the painting was considered to be in poor taste by some viewers, the powerful image of two polar bears tearing at the flag of the ship and feasting on human remains shows the likely reality of the Erebus and Terror expedition. A macabre detail in the painting hints at cannibalism among the crew, with human teeth marks appearing on some of the scattered bones. When visiting the Royal Academy exhibition that summer Lady Jane Franklin, widow of Captain John Franklin, is said to have avoided looking at the painting (and who could blame her!) as it’s often implied that the discarded bones belonged to her husband. The painting ultimately shows a lost battle between civilisation and the natural world, with the title itself implying that the will of God will ultimately determine the outcome of the plans and pursuits of mortal man.
If the painting itself wasn’t disturbing enough, it’s also believed by many to be cursed. Now hanging in the halls of Royal Holloway, University of London, Man Proposes, God Disposes has garnered a freaky multigenerational reputation. while rumours of the painting spread prior, the refusal of a student to sit near the painting while taking their exam during the 1970s greatly inspired other students to believe sitting in front of the painting would cause them to fail their exams. The lore surrounding the painting gets more extreme, citing an alleged incident where a student was writing their exam in front of the painting and went mad while staring into the eyes of the polar bear. Before killing themselves they are said to have written “the polar bears made me do it” on their exam paper. To keep the curse at bay, the Union Jack has covered the painting during exam season every year for the past 50 years – just in case.
Sources and Additional Reading
BBC News – The painting reputed to make students fail exams (2014)
Royal Holloway University of London – Man Proposes, God Disposes – Edwin Landseer
Wikipedia – Man Proposes, God Disposes
