Matania Gallery

Australian troops counter-attack at Amiens, WW1

Australian troops hold the line at Villers Bretonneux nine miles east of Amiens during a German attack during the Battle of Amiens in April 1918. The image was an accurate impression by Sphere special artist, Fortunino Matania, having been reconstructed with the help of eyewitness accounts and official material. In the foreground, an infantryman, his rifle slung over his shoulder, takes over a Lewis Gun whose crew had been put out of action. Behind that can be seen another soldier hitting a German with his tin helmet (having already strangled another with his bare hands) while a third German attempts to flee down a railway cutting but is stopped by the gun fire of the Australian officer's batman. Date: 1919

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Notables assembled in the Abbey annexe at 1937 Coronation

Ecclesiastics, distinguished officers of state and regalia bearers awaiting the arrival of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in the tapestried hall of the temporary annexe of Westminster Abbey. On the extreme left is Viscount Lascelles, elder son of the Princess Royal, one of the King's train-bearers. The group left centre consists of the Duke of Buccleuch, the Lord Steward; Field-Marshal Lord Milne, bearer of the Second Sword; the Earl of Cromer, the Lord Chamberlain; and the Duchess of Norfolk, canopy bearer to the Queen. The two ecclesiastics standing in the centre are the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London (bearer of the paten), while the group on the right foreground consists of the Duke of Abercorn, one of the four Knights of the Garter appointed to hold the canopy for the King's Anointing; the Earl of Lytton, another canopy-bearer; Major Algar H. S. Howard, Norroy King of Arms; and Lord Hailsham the Lord Chancellor. Date: 1937

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Repulsing the famous Prussian guard at Ypres

Repulsing the famous Prussian guard at Ypres. With the British Army on the Western Front - published in 1916 for Tatler and Sphere, though the illustration was first done in 1914 . Fortunino Matania, Ri (1881-1963). One of the most accomplished realistic illustrators and artists of his time, his wartime work was immensely popular and appeared in nearly every major news magazine, Allied, Neutral and Central Powers alike. Literally tens of millions of readers saw wartime events through the medium of Matania's weekly illustrations and, as such, he played an important role in defining people's mental image of what Great War battlefield scenes and soldiers looked like. Date: 1914

© David Cohen Fine Art/Mary Evans Picture Library