John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) was born in Rome and grew up in England. He spent many hours studying art in his father’s painting studio. He continued his studies at the Royal Academy in London and became interested in themes introduced by the Pre-Raphaelites.
The Pre-Raphaelites were a group of artists, formed in London in 1848, who wanted to resist the Royal Academy’s reliance on Raphael’s artistic principles. They admired the theorist John Ruskin, who urged artists to paint nature as it truly is, free of artificial pictorial conventions. In the 1860s, the Pre-Raphaelites revived the artistic styles of the Middle Ages.
This realistic painting represents a fictional story. The Lady of Shalott is a character in a tragically romantic 1832 poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. The story is set in the mythological kingdom of Camelot during King Arthur’s reign.
In the poem, the Lady of Shalott is cursed to live alone in a tower and can look upon the world only through a mirror. She weaves a tapestry of the lives she sees and increasingly longs to join them. One day, she sees the knight Lancelot’s reflection and turns to observe his beauty directly. Her mirror immediately cracks and brings a curse upon her. Knowing her death is near, the Lady of Shalott writes her name on the boat’s prow and sets sail toward Camelot.
Waterhouse’s dark, shadowy palette contrasts with the Lady’s bright white dress. She is the focal point, set off-center to suggest her movement toward her fate. Waterhouse uses muted colors to create a sense of isolation, melancholy, and despair, intensified by her wild surroundings.
Waterhouse depicts the Lady’s final moments. She releases the boat’s chain and faces her funereal journey laden with a crucifix and dying candles. The tapestry that hangs from the side of the boat depicts scenes from the Lady’s life and is a metaphor for time and destiny. The setting sun and late season correspond to her ending life.