Elaine
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
97.9 × 158.8 cm (38 9/16 × 62 1/2 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
72320
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Toby Edward Rosenthal found inspiration for this composition in Idylls of the King, a 19th-century version of the Arthurian legends written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In the poem, Elaine dies of a broken heart after being spurned by Sir Lancelot; Rosenthal’s painting depicts Elaine’s postmortem voyage from Astolat to Camelot: “In her right hand the lily, in her left / The letter—all her bright hair streaming down.” Rosenthal’s artistic choices reflect the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites, a group...