Analyse This: Holman Hunt - Isabella and the Pot of Basil

[dcorc]

William Holman Hunt
Isabella and the Pot of Basil
1876
Oil on canvas
187 x 116 cm (73 1/2 x 45 1/2 in)
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/28-Apr-2004/30792-isabella1.jpg

and bigger:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/28-Apr-2004/30792-isabellatl.jpghttp://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/28-Apr-2004/30792-isabellatr2.jpg
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/28-Apr-2004/30792-isabellabl.jpghttp://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/28-Apr-2004/30792-isabellabr.jpg

A personal note - this painting is a particular favorite of mine - it's in the Laing Art Gallery at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, my home town. I remember exploring the gallery one afternoon in the summer holidays, aged 13, and being totally transfixed by this painting, and going back again and again to re-examine it.

Needless to say, I can tell a bit about it, but I'm interested to hear what others think of it first!

Dave

[Matt Sammekull]

"Fair Isabel, poor simple Isabel
Lorenzo, a young palmer in Love's eye
They could not long in the selfsame mansion dwell
Without some stir of heart, some malady;
They could not sit at meals but felt how well
It soothes each to be the other by.

These brethren having found many signs
What love Lorenzo for their sister had
And how she loved him, too, each unconfines
His bitter thoughts to other, well-negh mad
That he, the servant of their trade designs,
Should in their sister's love be blithe and glad When 'twas their plan to coax her by degrees
To some high noble and his olive trees."

- John Keats is one of the finest poets to ever walk this earth. I love his writings.

//matt

[Matt Sammekull]

- John Keats is one of the finest poets to ever walk this earth.
Together with Auden and Whitman.

//matt

[Biki]

Absolutely stunning Dave.!!

I cannot get past all that incredible detail at this point.

I will be looking at this for a looooonnnnngggg time. :D

[Biki]

There is this beautiful curve from the watering can around her hip & the lean of her body over the pot. I am wondering about the composition rule chosen.

The focus to me is her face and the meloncholy expression, which is so beautiful. - yet this does not fall into the rule of thirds as I understand it.

Then there is the little touches - of the flower at her feet? - and what is that in the lower left corner.?

[dcorc]

Isn't this painting just stunning - as I recall (it's a quite a while since I last saw it personally), the surface is like plate glass, absolutely flat and glossy.

Matt is obviously familiar with Keats' poem! Biki - do you know what is going on here, what the story is about? - if you don't know the poem, how much information do you get from the painting?

Here are the 3rds marked out

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/28-Apr-2004/30792-isabella2.jpg

- together with her pose, the top right junction does suggest the pot might be important - but is she just a keen horticulturalist? :) Any thoughts on what we see in the background, or the decoration of the pot?

Dave

[Lemnus]

Maybe the face and the pot combine into one mass for the purposes of technical composition - I think the mass itself fits into the rule of thirds. The big masses do fit the rule, and they are linked by other compositional elements to connect the other masses? Agree on the curve of the body and other visual cues - lead the eye around in an oval. The detail is indeed amazing, the perspective perfect. How did those guys get the tiles and pattern work to look so good? Guess that's the benefit of working life-size. All of those Victorian painters could just capture so much eye candy it's hard not to just be happy when you look at them. Contrast of warms and cools going on here with the blue-green and peachy colors? This also has more vibrant colors and a more dramatic, sumptuous use of light than some of the other of Hunt's contemporaries.

I can see why you'd take time looking at this. If we had this in our museum I can assure you I'd come back to this again and again. I'd love to just kick up and admire this for about an hour. We don't have any of the great British victorian painters at all! Maybe we could sell our Bouguereau and buy this! Just kidding!

[Biki]

Isn't this painting just stunning - as I recall (it's a quite a while since I last saw it personally), the surface is like plate glass, absolutely flat and glossy.

Matt is obviously familiar with Keats' poem! Biki - do you know what is going on here, what the story is about? - if you don't know the poem, how much information do you get from the painting?

Here are the 3rds marked out

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/28-Apr-2004/30792-isabella2.jpg

- together with her pose, the top right junction does suggest the pot might be important - but is she just a keen horticulturalist? :) Any thoughts on what we see in the background, or the decoration of the pot?

Dave

no - i am not familiar with that poem.
Was she in love with her brother.?
when i read the poetry here, i was immediatly reminded of Thomas Mann's "The Holy Sinner" - a marvellous & quirky story of sibling love.

Ok - i see a rumpled bed in the background & skulls on the spot - but i am not smart enough to make any connection. :rolleyes:
it appears to be a story of love lost - but ?? is it.?

[dcorc]

Isabella’s love was for Lorenzo, who was killed by her brothers:

There was Lorenzo slain and buried in,
There in that forest did his great love cease;
Ah! when a soul doth thus its freedom win,
It aches in loneliness—is ill at peace
As the break-covert blood-hounds of such sin:
They dipp’d their swords in the water, and did tease
Their horses homeward, with convulsed spur,
Each richer by his being a murderer.
- but his ghost appeared to her - she found his body, and took the head:

In anxious secrecy they took it home,
And then the prize was all for Isabel:
She calm’d its wild hair with a golden comb,
And all around each eye’s sepulchral cell
Pointed each fringed lash; the smeared loam
With tears, as chilly as a dripping well,
She drench’d away:—and still she comb’d, and kept
Sighing all day—and still she kiss’d, and wept.

Then in a silken scarf,—sweet with the dews
Of precious flowers pluck’d in Araby,
And divine liquids come with odorous ooze
Through the cold serpent pipe refreshfully,—
She wrapp’d it up; and for its tomb did choose
A garden-pot, wherein she laid it by,
And cover’d it with mould, and o’er it set
Sweet Basil, which her tears kept ever wet.

see http://www.john-keats.com/gedichte/isabella.htm

Dave

[Titanium]

Hometown- hah- some people are so lucky.

I think the pot is Majolica and I believe he
designed it,and it was made in Florence.
[On memory.]

My first book on Pre-Raphaelites was from
a Grocery near 100 Star Street in London.
It was a strange experience.Did I like them
or not?
On the plane home I decided that I liked
them --- alot!!

As to composition,never seen any of the
drawings for this painting,but it is pleasant.
A beautiful interior.Almost as though it were
set up in nature and just painted from life?

The tale shows up in Boccaccio,I believe and
as the Rose Elf with H.Anderson.
Also done as a re-make in Marvel Comics,
by Bolton and Claremont.

Interesting that someone could take a skull,
put it into a flower pot and then cry a plant to
life.

It's a sad,but beautiful painting.
Many memories.
Thank you.
Titanium

[dcorc]

Interesting that someone could take a skull,
put it into a flower pot and then cry a plant to
life.

Well it wasn't just the skull, but the decomposing head :eek: :

And so she ever fed it with thin tears,
Whence thick, and green, and beautiful it grew,
So that it smelt more balmy than its peers
Of Basil-tufts in Florence; for it drew
Nurture besides, and life, from human fears,
From the fast mouldering head there shut from view:
So that the jewel, safely casketed,
Came forth, and in perfumed leafits spread

Dave

[Titanium]

I hope this story is not rooted in reality.

For in the Decameron-Boccaccio,fifth story of
the fourth day.Seems that Lisabetta discovered
Lorenzo's body undecayed and chopped of his
head to take home.

She used essence of rose or orangeblossom or
her tears to water the salernitan basil.
[Amazing!!]

The story became a song--

Whoever it was,
Whoever the villian,
that stole my pot of herbs,etc.

I am always amazed at what inspires
a painting.

The story also explains the decorative pot.
Later.
Titanium

[dcorc]

I hope this story is not rooted in reality.

Like the basil is? :)

Dave

[Trisha H]

Dave,

My first mad thought when you suggested looking at the background etc; was, has she killed her lover and made soup of him :D

....but forgive my flippancy, I've really had a traumatic week.

What fascinates me with this painting, and others of it's ilk, is the rendering of the fabric, especially her nightgown - incredibly painted.

I've never seen this painting before, and can't believe I've never visited the Laing - I'm only on the North Yorks border.

I think a trip out is in order when things settle down.

Thanks for showing it.

Trisha.

[Olan]

Dave, my first thought was she loves her basil more than I do. :D What an interesting story this painting is tho. Not much on poems myself so thanks for the info on this work of art; it is a treat for the senses.

Give or take I think the center of interest is in 'the area' and look how large that highlight is. :D

[artmom]

Dave, thanks for sharing this image. I was not familiar with this painting and am completely overwhelmed with the luminosity and detail, in particular the inlay on the tabouret and the fabrics!

Also, thanks for the poetry, also. It certainly explains the melancholy look on her face.

This is definitely a work that I would love to see in real life!

Lyn

[Biki]

Really - I just cannot stop looking at this painting.
There is so much to absolutely blow me away.!!

I cannot believe how he got that fabric of her gown. It is exactly the image of an Indian cotton crinkle. My oh my. Just amazing. What perserverence he had - what skill. !!!

Tho you ( or rather I) could hardly call it inspirational. I Know ( with a Capital K) that I wil never reach this standard - at least in this lifetime. But thankfully, I DO believe that you pick up where you left off - so give me a hundred more lifetimes, and maybe I will surprise you. :D

( sigh - dribble - drool )

biki

[Gareth]

I had to hold off being a smart arse last night and spilling the beans on this one. It's a lovely painting, and one that I've seen in the flesh too. You ought to try Manchester City Art Gallery aswell (my home town), if you've not been already. They've got a lot of Pre-Raphaelite and Victorian painting due to the wealth the city generated during the industrial revolution. There's quite a few Rossetti's ("Astarte Syriaca" was always my favourite painting growing up), plus a couple of Holman Hunt's, Millais. It's a must see for anyone interested in the Pre-Raphaelite artists and their near contemporaries. They've got the original of "Hylas and the Nymphs" by Waterhouse too, which I know a lot of people in this forum were into it when it was posted the other week.

Try this link. there's not much in the Fine Art section, other than names, but they're worth searching the collection for.

http://www.manchestergalleries.org/html/mag/mag_collection.html

[Biki]

I had to hold off being a smart arse last night and spilling the beans on this one. It's a lovely painting, and one that I've seen in the flesh too. You ought to try Manchester City Art Gallery aswell (my home town), if you've not been already. They've got a lot of Pre-Raphaelite and Victorian painting due to the wealth the city generated during the industrial revolution. There's quite a few Rossetti's ("Astarte Syriaca" was always my favourite painting growing up), plus a couple of Holman Hunt's, Millais. It's a must see for anyone interested in the Pre-Raphaelite artists and their near contemporaries. They've got the original of "Hylas and the Nymphs" by Waterhouse too, which I know a lot of people in this forum were into it when it was posted the other week.

Try this link. there's not much in the Fine Art section, other than names, but they're worth searching the collection for.

http://www.manchestergalleries.org/html/mag/mag_collection.html

Hey Gareth - you feel free to be a smart arse - we love them here & you are among many of your own kind. :D
Speaking of Waterhouse..... ( sigh)!!!! At least there are a few I can see here in Oz! ... if I have the time to travel :rolleyes:

[PthaloBlueGirl]

Love this painting. LOVE the colors, the attention to all the shading and light highlight and all that-every bit! The shine on the basil plant is wonderful!

Do want to know more about how this was painted though. Like, did the guy pose his model in a real room with this tile work and woodwork and the pot? Is there any more information on how this was made and what colors and so on?

Just looking at these paintings is fun but I must admit I am not learning much about how to paint like them just by looking at their works. Can we get more technical?

And as for the subject matter, well, at least now I know the secret to a great garden! Wonder who's head I can put in my basil planter? Hope the seeds sprout. Cinnamon Basil should be really neat! The plant is supposed to be dark brown almost black.

:D

[Biki]

And as for the subject matter, well, at least now I know the secret to a great garden! Wonder who's head I can put in my basil planter? Hope the seeds sprout. Cinnamon Basil should be really neat! The plant is supposed to be dark brown almost black.

:D

lol - pretty funny, Blue.

[Gareth]

Love this painting. LOVE the colors, the attention to all the shading and light highlight and all that-every bit! The shine on the basil plant is wonderful!

Do want to know more about how this was painted though. Like, did the guy pose his model in a real room with this tile work and woodwork and the pot? Is there any more information on how this was made and what colors and so on?

Just looking at these paintings is fun but I must admit I am not learning much about how to paint like them just by looking at their works. Can we get more technical?



The Pre Raphaelites were well known for their mythological and religious subjects also being faithful portraits of the sitter (e.g. Millais Ophelia is suppoesdly a remarkable likeness of Elizabeth Siddal, Rossetti's wife), however in this case the model wasn't the person who the picture was a "portrait" of. The figure of Isabella is a likeness of Holman Hunt's wife, Fanny, who had died the previous year, and it is widely accepted that the painting was a form of tribute to her and also serves as an expression of Holman Hunt's personal grief at the time.

I suspect he would have posed a model with some props though, as a large part of the Pre-Raphelite ethos was to paint things as they were. I'm doubtful about the pot for some reason, but that's probably just because it's so extraordinary.

Regarding technique; Holman Hunt is known to have pioneered a method of painting into a wet white background with pure colour, working small areas at a time, then adding further glaze layers, again of pure colour. At the time the technique, which was taken up by other members of the PRB was quite heavily critcised and labeled gaudy because the colour was so vivid in comparison to the old masters. (It had more in common with the pre Renaissance European art that had existed before Raphael, hence the name). Holman Hunt (unlike most other Pre-Raphaelite painters) carried on using this technique in his later paintings. I believe what is meant by a wet white background is a gessoed surface that has had a little medium painted onto it first, then colour is worked into this medium . This leaves microscopic particles of pigment suspended within a clear resin like substance once it has dried. It's kind of difficult to explain, and I'm not sure I'm making myself clear; but if you sliced the painting in half and looked at the cross section with a microscope you have a solid white background then a clear layer with thousands of particles of colour suspended within it. This allows light to pass through the layer of colour and reflect off the white of the background and come out through the colour again. This creates tremendous vibrancy and gives the paintings a kind of glassy look. Working into medium also allows for very subtle blending of glaze layers (without dry scumble type marks), provided you're willing to take the time and get the fan brush out.

Phew........ I really should go and start painting.

[Titanium]

Ahh the days when the Old Masters were
covered in browned varnish and Sir Sloshua
ruled- chuckle.

You - might - be able obtain a similar effect
by,making all your decisions before hand.

[1]a finished drawing.

[2]a finished oil study[make all the mistakes here.]

[3]photo-copy the drawing[you blow it up.]
and transfer only the outline.

[4]Here I break with tradition--I would use
only transparent on canvas pigments to glaze,
not medium.

[5]Colour match your oil study perfectly and
paint only those colours aiming at one coat.
A finished painting in a single coat.
Or false alla prima.

Any mistakes - remove physically.

Though I suspect the glazes would still work with
a helper coat underneath.

The only problem would be,with too much or
only glazes you might end up with a stained
glass or glassy effect.

More like a coloured drawing than painting,but
then it would be ultra bright.

As far as I know the Pre-Raphaelites also used
photographs.How often? I do not know.

Hmm,an interesting project.
Until later.
Titanium

[Lemnus]

Gareth: very clear. Thanks for posting this detailed information about Holman Hunt's technique. With regard to Siddal - yeah, I was impressed with all the studies and portaits of her, how they put her in their work, etc. Must be wonderful to be so admired. Imagine knowing that someone 100, 200, 300 years from now might be charmed by your beautiful face? Ain't gonna happen to ME - my ashtar is actually a close resemblance to my own face, which was why I picked it. :crying:

[Gareth]

With regard to Siddal - yeah, I was impressed with all the studies and portaits of her, how they put her in their work, etc. Must be wonderful to be so admired.

I don't think she really felt that way. She did, after all, commit suicide whilst Rossetti was out with another woman.

[Lemnus]

I don't think she really felt that way. She did, after all, commit suicide whilst Rossetti was out with another woman.

Really? Man, I gotta read that PreRaph book I have instead of just looking at all the pretty pictures. :D

Jackass Rossetti. :mad: What can you expect from an artist? :rolleyes: Well, guess it makes the Ophelia thing make a lot of sense now. Was that before or after the suicide?

[Gareth]

Really? Man, I gotta read that PreRaph book I have instead of just looking at all the pretty pictures. :D

Jackass Rossetti. :mad: What can you expect from an artist? :rolleyes: Well, guess it makes the Ophelia thing make a lot of sense now. Was that before or after the suicide?

The Ophelia painting was before her suicide, finished in 1852 (which makes Millais about 22 when he did it :eek: ), she'd been with Rossetti a couple of years at this point, but they didn't marry until 1860. She commited suicide in 1862 (the death certificate gave the cause as accidental death, a common practise at the time to save the family from the stigma of suicide. She had, however, taken ten times the fatal dose of laudanum, a drug both she and Rossetti used). They'd been out to dinner together, then after coming home Rossetti went out again to meet Fanny Cornforth (a prostitute, who also posed for some of his paintings, Lady Lilith, Fazio's Mistress), when he came back Lizzie was dead.

When she was buried Rossetti had a collection of his poems buried with her. This was his only complete collection of his poems, and in 1869 he had his agent, Charles Howell, go and dig up Lizzie's body in Highgate cemetery to get them back so that he could publish them.

[loop]

When she was buried Rossetti had a collection of his poems buried with her. This was his only complete collection of his poems, and in 1869 he had his agent, Charles Howell, go and dig up Lizzie's body in Highgate cemetery to get them back so that he could publish them.


that sounds like a great subject for a painting