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Britomart

Image credit: Falmouth Art Gallery

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Notes

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This work on plaster was probably produced as an experiment for a fresco commission Watts received in 1852 for the Poets’ Hall in the House of Lords.

The subject of the picture is taken from Spenser's 'The Faerie Queen', (1590). The poem tells the story of Britomart, symbol of maidenly purity, who falls in love with a knight she sees in an enchanted mirror. She and her nurse go out into the world to find the embodiment of the reflection.

In the painting we see Britomart facing us, looking away from the mirror as she does not want to have her vision disturbed, asking her nurse to describe the image in the mirror. The figure on the horse is not, according to Watts, Britomart’s knight, but Artegal, the symbol of justice. Watts wrote 'I have made him climbing his horse, as justice must not over-ride sympathy'.

Falmouth Art Gallery

Falmouth

Title

Britomart

Date

c.1850

Medium

fresco

Measurements

H 85 x W 109 cm

Accession number

FAMAG:1923.17

Acquisition method

gift from Alfred de Pass, 1923

Work type

Mural or fresco

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Falmouth Art Gallery

Municipal Buildings, The Moor, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 2RT England

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