The Lady of Shalott (1894), by J.W. WaterhouseJust like with the previous painting of Ophelia, Water
The Lady of Shalott (1894), by J.W. WaterhouseJust like with the previous painting of Ophelia, Waterhouse returned again to an old subject. With The Lady of Shalott, he painted a different episode from the poem by Tennyson (see the blog on the 1888 version for the complete text of the poem).Here the Lady has taken the decision to disobey the curse and go into the open to look for her beloved Knight Lancelot. Yet a golden thread is bound around her legs, symbolizing that she cannot escape from her fate. The model he used is clearly the same as that for Circe. There is a lot of speculation about who Waterhouse’s models were. Besides one scribbled address on an envelope, no names are sure. On YouTube you can find a nice series on this subject: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4dc1oE7R8A . Highly recommended! -- source link
#painting#symbolism#19th century#alfred tennyson#lancelot