John Cross

John Cross (29 May 1819 – 26 February 1861) was an English painter. Life Cross was born on 29 May 1819 to John and Elizabeth Cross, in Tiverton, Devon, where his father was the superintendent of a lace factory. Soon afterwards the family moved to Saint-Quentin, in northern France, when his father took up an appointment as superintendent of an English factory. There the young Cross was admitted into the School of Design, where he showed so much ability that he was sent to Paris, where he entered the atelier of Picot, a painter of some celebrity in the old classic school. In 1843 Cross submitted a cartoon of The Assassination of Thomas à Becket to the competition for the decoration of the Houses of Parliament, held in Westminster Hall, but was unsuccessful as it did not fully comply with the terms of the competition. A second attempt in 1847, with an oil painting of The Clemency of Coeur-de-Lion, won him the first prize of £300, and was later purchased by the royal commissioners for £1,000.