William Holman Hunts

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William Holman Hunts

• The Lady of Shalott

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Hunt Biography

• Born 1827- Died 1910, British painter and founder
  of the Pre-Rafaelite Brotherhood with Rosetti and
  Milais. They sought to portray a detailed
  observation of the natural world with a religious
  devotion to truth. Highly influenced by medieval
  art, partly because it removed them from the
  problems and ugliness of the industrial world.

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• Hunt received early fame for naturalistic
  paintings of rural life and for his religious
  paintings. Noted for their attention to detail,
  vivid color, and elaborate symbolism. Influenced
  by Ruskin and Carlyle and the belief that the
  world could be interpreted as a system of visual
  signs.
• His last major work, The Lady Of Shalott, was
  completed with the help of assistants because of
  Hunts failing sight.

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• Based on Tennysons 1842 poem, loosely based on
  Malorys Mort d Arthur and the Italian novelette
  Donna di Scalotta, about Elaine of Astolat who
  falls in love with Lancelot and dies of
  unrequited love.
• In the poem, the Lady lives on an island near
  Camelot , cursed to never look directly at
  Camelot, but view the world in a mirror and weave
  what she sees in a magic web. One day, she sees
  Lancelot riding toward Camelot, and realizes how
  sick she is of seeing the world through shadows
  and reflections.

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• Temptation gets the best of her and she looks out
  the window toward Lancelot, bringing the curse
  upon her. She leaves the tower and finds a boat,
  upon which she writes her name, and drifts toward
  Camelot, dying as she sings her mournful song

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• Hunts painting depicts the climatic moment the
  Lady looks toward Lancelot, and is cursed.
• She left the web, she left the loom,
• She made three paces through the room,
• She saw the water-lily bloom,
• She saw the helmet and the plume,
• She lookd down to Camelot.
• Out flew the web and floated wide
• The mirror crackd from side to side
• The curse is come upon me, cried
• The Lady of Shalott.

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• The poem was extremely popular with pre-Rafaelite
  painters and Hunt himself returned to the image
  at several points in his career.
• The story was attractive because of the sorrowful
  aspects of love and the idea of the isolated and
  unattainable woman. The fallen woman was key to
  this brotherhood of painters, and the image of a
  woman at a window reflected the separation
  between a womans interior and exterior worlds.
• Hunts painting more accurately depicts, not the
  moment she sees Lancelot, but the moment she
  recognizes the fulfillment of the curse, and
  knows her fate.

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• The Ladys hair is wild and tempestuous
  reflecting her inner emotional state, and she
  attempts to break free of the web with an
  outstretched hand that wards off impending
  danger. It is interesting to realize that the
  only image we have of Lancelot is in the mirror.
  In the mirror, as opposed to the what is
  happening in the room, the Lady appears to be
  headed toward Lancelot and the outside world. So
  the two appear briefly together, though a column
  clearly separates them. It is important to note,
  however, that Lancelot is riding away, his back
  turned toward the woman in her state of peril.

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• The mirror behind the Lady is juxtaposed by the
  space she inhabits. The wide, open, and bright
  image of the outside world is contrasted with the
  claustrophobia of the Ladys tower.
• Her hair frightens away the doves of peace that
  have settled around her, and the ruined tapestry
  reflects the ruin of her own life.
• The lamp to her side depicts sphinxes at the
  bottom and owls at the top signifying wisdom over
  mystery, the light having gone out now that the
  lady has given in to temptation.

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• The frames on either side of the mirror depict
  images from the Bible and from classical
  mythology. To the left, is the Madonna and child,
  signifying humility. To the right, Heracles
  victory over the serpent that guards the apples
  in the garden of the Hesperides., signifying
  valor. Heracles is haloed, the pagan equivalent
  to Christ and his victory over sin. Both are
  images of duty, which contrast to the temptation
  and fall of the Lady.

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• In addition to being the story of the fallen
  woman, the journey from innocence, to seduction,
  sexual awakening, abandonment, despair, and
  either suicide or salvation, it is also an
  exploration of the duties of artist and the
  dangers of personal isolation. At what point does
  the artist need to stop mirroring the world, and
  start living in it?

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• http//www.victorianweb.org/painting/whh/byecroft2
  .html
• http//penelope.uchicago.edu/grout/encyclopaedia_
  romana/britannia/saxonadvent/hunt.html
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_of_Shalott