How do we move away from being a civilization that produces art that causes comments like, “my five year old could make this,” back to being one that creates beauty and inspires deep questions? We must reject modernity and embrace tradition. To embrace tradition, we must first learn about it..
This is one of the most famous British paintings of all time. It is based upon an extremely famous British poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. They are both rooted in Arthurian legend. Let’s start by familiarizing ourselves with the inspiration.
The first four stanzas of the 1842 second version of the poem describe a pastoral setting. The Lady of Shalott lives in an island castle in a river which flows to Camelot, but the local farmers know little about her.
And by the moon the reaper weary, Piling sheaves in uplands airy, Listening, whispers, “‘Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott.”
Stanzas five to eight describe the lady’s life. She suffers from a mysterious curse and must continually weave images on her loom without ever looking directly out at the world. Instead, she looks into a mirror, which reflects the busy road and the people of Camelot who pass by her island.
She knows not what the curse may be, And so she weaveth steadily, And little other care hath she, The Lady of Shalott.
The reflected images are described as “shadows of the world”, a metaphor that makes it clear they are a poor substitute for seeing directly (“I am half-sick of shadows”).
Stanzas nine to twelve describe “bold Sir Lancelot” as he rides by and is seen by the lady.
All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewell’d shone the saddle-leather, The helmet and the helmet-feather Burn’d like one burning flame together, As he rode down to Camelot.
The remaining seven stanzas describe the effect on the lady of seeing Lancelot; she stops weaving and looks out of her window toward Camelot, bringing about the curse.
Out flew the web and floated wide— The mirror crack’d from side to side; “The curse is come upon me,” cried The Lady of Shalott.
She leaves her tower, finds a boat upon which she writes her name, and floats down the river to Camelot. She dies before arriving at the palace. Among the knights and ladies who see her is Lancelot, who thinks she is lovely.
“Who is this? And what is here?” And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer; And they crossed themselves for fear, All the Knights at Camelot; But Lancelot mused a little space He said, “She has a lovely face; God in his mercy lend her grace, The Lady of Shalott.”
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The painter and the poet, both taking inspiration from the same legend, created something timeless. The figure in the painting is Elaine of Astolat, who lived and eventually died loving Lancelot, but not having her love reciprocated. Her purpose in some versions of the legend, arguably, is to demonstrate how devoted Lancelot is to Guinevere alone. To make that point effectively, Elaine needs to be quite beautiful and more than worthy of himi. Waterhouse gives us a beautiful ginger Elaine. The color of her hair, and the brightness of her dress, pop off the canvas, when compared to the duller highly realistic shades of nature green all around her. She draws you in. Ultimately, your gaze settles on her anguished face.
In the version of the Lancelot/Elaine presented by the poem, and presumably the painting (though the initial audience of the painting would have been very familiar with the story as given over time), Elaine is isolated. She violates a curse upon herself and after seeing Lancelot, she turns and looks outside at him, instead of staring at her mirror as she is supposed to. This action invokes the curse fully and leads to her death. Lancelot’s feelings for her in this version are less clear. He remarks that she has a lovely face. The painting represents a vision of purity and the terrible consequences of unrequited feelings.
Those familiar with the mythology will be forced to reflect upon Lancelot. What would have happened if he had reciprocated her feelings? Why didn’t he? Why does the heart want what it wants? When should we heed it and when should we not?
There are a lot of other small but interesting details in the work, explained below:
The Lady of Shalott is a painting of 1888 by the English painter John William Waterhouse. It is a representation of the ending of Alfred, Lord Tennyson‘s 1832 poem of the same name. Waterhouse painted three versions of this character, in 1888, 1894 and 1915. It is one of his most famous works, which adopted much of the style of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, though Waterhouse was painting several decades after the Brotherhood split up during his early childhood.
The Lady of Shalott was donated to the public by Sir Henry Tate in 1894 and is usually on display in Tate Britain, London, in room 1840.
Description
The Lady of Shalott, an 1888 oil-on-canvas painting, is one of John William Waterhouse’s most famous works. It depicts a scene from Tennyson’s poem in which the poet describes the plight and the predicament of a young woman, loosely based on the figure of Elaine of Astolat from medieval Arthurian legend, who yearned with an unrequited love for the knight Sir Lancelot, isolated under an undisclosed curse in a tower near King Arthur‘s Camelot. Waterhouse painted three versions of this character, in 1888, 1894 and 1915.
The painting contains a range of bright colours typical of the Pre-Raphaelites. It pictures the titular character of Tennyson’s poem, also titled The Lady of Shalott (1842). In the poem, the Lady had been confined to her quarters under a curse that forbade her to go outside or even look directly out of a window; her only view of the world was through a mirror. She sat below the mirror and wove a tapestry of scenes she could see by the reflection. After defying the curse by looking out the window at Camelot, she made her way to a small boat. This is the moment pictured in Waterhouse’s painting as she leaves to face her destiny and she is shown sitting on the tapestry she has woven.
The Lady has a lantern at the front of her boat, and a crucifix is positioned near the bow. Next to the crucifix are three candles. Candles were a representation of life – two of the candles are already blown out, signifying that her death is soon to come. Aside from the metaphoric details, this painting is valued for Waterhouse’s realistic painting abilities. The Lady’s dress is stark white against the much darker hues of the background. Waterhouse’s close attention to detail and colour, the accentuation of the beauty of nature, realist quality, and his interpretation of her vulnerable, wistful face are further demonstrations of his artistic skill. Naturalistic details include two swallows and the water plants that would be found in a river in England at this time.
The Lady of Shalott was donated to the public by Sir Henry Tate in 1894.
Thanks! I’ve always been really interested in this myth. It used to be such a foundational part of being “a Westerner.” It’s fun to go back through art and dig out the truth of that.
Beautiful art, but a sad story. Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome! I’ve always been really interested in Arthurian legend. This is definitely one of the sadder stories from those legends.
Beautiful but tragic story, and an absolutely wonderful coverage of the myth. Well done 😎👏
Thanks! I’ve always been really interested in this myth. It used to be such a foundational part of being “a Westerner.” It’s fun to go back through art and dig out the truth of that.