SuperRare

The Lady of Shalott
Tennyson’s famous poem told the story of a cursed woman with a doomed fate, and William Waterhouse’s 1888 painting captures her in all her poetry and tragedy. The sorrowful road to death for the Lady of Shalott is clear: the cold, grey skies and dark waters contrasted against the white of the dress, the detail of the tapestry, the life of a lady in the process of fading. We can just about hear her as she sings her final song – ‘a long-drawn carol, mournful, holy.’ A painting both spooky and beautiful; a powerful artistic representation of a reluctant goodbye.