“ Isabella ” ( Eng. Isabella ) or “ Lorenzo and Isabella ” ( Eng. Lorenzo and Isabella ) is a painting by the English Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millet , created in 1849 , immediately after Millet entered the Brotherhood of the Pre-Raphaelites .
| ||
| John Everett Millet | ||
| Isabella (Lorenzo and Isabella) . 1849 | ||
| Isabella (Lorenzo and Isabella) | ||
| canvas, oil. 103 × 142.8 cm | ||
| Walker Art Gallery , Liverpool | ||
Story
The painting is based on the poem by John Keats "Isabella, or the pot of basil " ( Eng. Isabella, or the Pot of Basil , 1818 ), and its plot, in turn, is borrowed from the novel about the pot with basil from the "Decameron" Boccaccio (IV day, 5th short story).
Keats tells of the tragic love of Isabella and Lorenzo [1] . The rich brothers of Isabella, learning about her secret love for poor young man Lorenzo, kill him. Isabella remains forever true to her love. She secretly transfers the beloved's head to her garden and hides it there. The brothers, revealing the secret of Isabella, steal from the garden a pot of basil , where Lorenzo’s head is hidden, and flee from Florence . Isabella is plunged in grief by the cruelty of people. [2] The artist depicted the moment when one of Isabella’s gloomy brothers kicks her dog (this animal was traditionally considered a symbol of fidelity). Bocaccio does not have a dog, but it was in the English version of Keats [3] . In the catalog of the first exhibition, the picture was accompanied by verses:
Vassal of love - Lorenzo young
Beautiful, simple-minded Isabella!
It’s possible that under the roof alone
Love did not take possession of their hearts;
It’s possible to have a day meal
Their views did not meet every now and then;
So they are in the middle of the night in silence
They did not dream of each other in a dream.
(Translation by Galina Gampieva)
The connection of text and image emphasized the principle of synthesis of arts, proclaimed by the Pre-Raphaelites.
Creation History
Millet began work on Isabella immediately after the Brotherhood of the Pre-Raphaelites was created, so this is one of the first works that embodied the principles of the Pre-Raphaelite aesthetics [4] . The colors are very bright, saturated, each figure is painted with great care. On the leg of Isabella’s chair you can find the initials of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood - PRB ( Eng. P re- R aphaelite B rotherhood ). There is no perspective in Isabella: all the figures sitting at the table are of the same size [5] .
As it was customary among the Pre-Raphaelites, Millet depicted his relatives and friends in the picture. The Isabella brothers are written with F. D. Stevens (the young man on the left, with a glass in his hand), W. Deverell (left, background), D. Harris (pushing the dog). In the background on the right is D. G. Rossetti (drinking from a glass). An elderly man wiping his lips with a napkin is Millet's father. For Lorenzo posed W. Rossetti , Isabella - the wife of half-brother Millet [6] .
This work was written in joyful light and transparent colors, which neither the audience nor the critics liked [7] .
Notes
- ↑ The picture of another Pre-Raphaelite , Holman Hunt - “ Isabella and the Pot of Basil ”, 1868 is built on a similar plot
- ↑ Anikin G.V., Mikhalskaya N.P. History of English literature . - M .: Higher school, 1975
- ↑ Ekaterina Belyaeva. Fruits for family reasons. John Milles exhibition opened in Amsterdam. - The newspaper "Culture" No. 9, March 12, 2008, p. 15
- ↑ Shestakov V.P. Pre-Raphaelites: dreams of beauty. - M .: Progress-Tradition, 2004. ISBN 5-89826-217-2 .
- ↑ eur-lang.narod.ru/histart/xix/gallery2/prb.html
- ↑ Laurence de Car. Pre-Raphaelites: Modernism in English —M .: Astrel, 2002, p.27 ISBN 5-271-02250-1
- ↑ MILLES, JOHN EVERETT - article from the encyclopedia "Around the World"