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The Lady of Shalott

Image credit: Tate

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The picture illustrates the following lines from part IV of Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott': 'And down the river's dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance, Seeing all his own mischance – With glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot. And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain, and down she lay; The broad stream bore her far away, The Lady of Shalott'. Tennyson's poem, first published in 1832, tells of a woman who suffers under an undisclosed curse. She lives isolated in a tower on an island called Shalott, on a river which flows down from King Arthur's castle at Camelot. Not daring to look upon reality, she is allowed to see the outside world only through its reflection in a mirror. One day she glimpses the reflected image of the handsome knight Lancelot, and cannot resist looking at him directly.

Tate Britain

London

Title

The Lady of Shalott

Date

1888

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 153 x W 200 cm

Accession number

N01543

Acquisition method

presented by Sir Henry Tate 1894

Work type

Painting

Inscription description

date inscribed

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Tate Britain

Millbank, London, Greater London SW1P 4RG England

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