Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which "H.M.S. Pinafore", "The Pirates of Penzance" and "The Mikado" are among the best known. Gilbert, who wrote the libretti for these operas, created fanciful "topsy-turvy" worlds where each absurdity is taken to its logical conclusion—fairies rub elbows with British lords, flirting is a capital offence, gondoliers ascend to the monarchy, and pirates emerge as
Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens is a 1910 fresco by Henry Payne. It was commissioned in 1908 to decorate the Palace of Westminster. It depicts the fictional scene by Shakespeare, of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset being challenged by Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York to choose between the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster. A gouache painting by Payne, "Choosing The Red and White Roses in the Temple Garden" is in the collection of the Birmingham