"Fair Rosamund" by Arthur Hughes (1832-1915)

Fair Rosamund, by Arthur Hughes (1832-1915). 1854. Oil on cardboard. 16 x 12 inches (40.3 x 30.5 cm). Collection: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Accession no. 3334-4. Reproduced by kind permission. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

The twelfth-century figure of Henry II's mistress was a favourite subject for the Pre-Raphaelites. They adopted the legend that the King had built her a secret bower, and Queen Eleanor became jealous of her, finally murdering her. She can be seen here, watching her suspiciously under the gothic doorway to the right. According to Susan Casteras, "One recurrent metaphor is of dropped blossoms, referring both to actual flowers and to the fallen Rosamund, whose name means 'rose of the world'" (64). — Jacqueline Banerjee

Commentary by Dennis T. Lanigan

Hughes exhibited this painting under the tile Rosamunda at The Winter Exhibition of Cabinet Pictures at Ernest Gambart's French Gallery in 1854. It was subsequently shown at the First Pre-Raphaelite Group Exhibition held at No. 4 Russell Place, Fitzroy Square, London in 1857, no. 36. It was one of the works Hughes lent to the Exhibition of Modern British Art in America held later that same year. It was shown in New York at the National Academy of Design in October-December 1857 and then returned to London rather than going on to Philadelphia and Boston. Its first owner was Peter Austin Daniel, Hughes's friend and former fellow student at the Royal Academy Schools.

Len Roberts has explained the derivation of this subject of medieval intrigue:

The subject derives from John Stowe's A Summarie of Englysh Chronicles, Marshe, 1565, which reads: "Rosamund, the fayre daughter of Walter Lord Clifford, concubine to Henry II (poisoned by queen Elianor, as some thought), dyed at Woodstocke, where king Henry made for her a house of wonderful working; so that no man or woman might come to her, but he that was instructed by the king, or such as were right secret with him touching the matter. The house after some was named Lambyrinthus, or Dedalas worke, which was wrought like unto a knot in a garden, called a Maze, but it was commonly said, that lastly the queene came to her by a clue of thriddle, or silke, and so dealt with her, that she lived not long after; but when she was dead, she was buried at Godstow, in an house of nunnes, beside Oxford." [qtd. Roberts 130]

In the 12th century Rosamund de Clifford, "Fair Rosamund," was the mistress of King Henry II. Her name is derived from rosa mundi, meaning "rose of the world," and she was reputed to be one of the most beautiful women in England (Benson 34). Hughes portrays her as an innocent-appearing young woman standing in a secret walled garden on Henry's royal property, Woodstock Park in Oxfordshire, accessible only by a maze for her protection. Henry's jealous wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, is the menacing figure seen in the background, who has just discovered the entrance to the garden and will subsequently murder Rosamund by forcing her to drink poison. Hughes has included the deadly foxglove plant alongside the Queen's path to symbolize what is to happen. Ted Gott has suggested that other flowers in the painting added important symbolism. The blue irises seen in the left foreground were associated with the Greek Goddess Iris, who chaperoned the souls of dead women to the Elysian Fields, while the the fleur-de-lys are a symbol of the French crown. (Gott 78). Eleanor of Aquitaine had been Queen of France from 1137-1152, prior to her marriage to Henry.

The picture is handled very much in an early Pre-Raphaelite manner with its meticulously detailed depiction of plants and foliage, costumes and accessories like the embroidery and Rosamund's lute.

The story of Fair Rosamund and Queen Eleanor was popular among artists of the Pre-Raphaelite circle and was also treated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, Willam Bell Scott, Frederick Sandys, John William Waterhouse, and Evelyn De Morgan.

Contemporary Reviews of the Painting

When the painting was shown at the French Gallery in 1854 it was well received. A reviewer for The Critic was one of the first to remark on the influence of Millais on Hughes's work:

A new aspirant in the pre-Raffaelite school, of some promise, shows himself here. Rosamunda, by Arthur Hughes, has some of the qualities which characterize Millais. The wild roses of the bower remind us of them in the picture of Ophelia. Rosamunda herself, disturbed at her embroidery by the sound of the key in the lock, the signal of her royal lovers approach, looks like a breathing image. There is a little awkwardness in the attitude; but the face is absolutely living. With some patent weaknesses, we yet discern the touch of the true poet in this little work – the promise, we hope, of still better things. [25]

W. M. Rossetti in The Spectator found this painting highly poetical both in its execution and colouration:

Next in value to this, which is accompanied by a small landscape piece and a charcoal-design from the same artist, is Mr. Arthur Hughes's Rosamunda. The fair girlish creature is in her bower, and has just caught the sound of footsteps – surely those of her lover and king? It is Queen Eleanor, who, resolved in vindictive purpose, stands at last at the secret door. The sunny delight, the fresh luxury of vegetation, the charm of dainty colour and execution, combine to make this an exquisite little snatch of poetry. None of our young painters has a truer gift than Mr. Hughes – a more native and unmistakeable appetite for beauty, or more manifest delight in dwelling upon its expression. In colour, his own pleasure in light bright tints makes him tend towards that which is decoratively agreeable rather than strictly correct, and induces a delicacy, almost too fairy-like for earth: the green of the ivy in this picture, for instance, is not an ivy-green – and we may add that fair Rosamond is somewhat narrow-shouldered. He studies nature minutely, however; and the faculty – the something not to be learned or laboured for – is in him, if in anyone. [1366]

A critic for the American publication The Crayon considered this among Hughes's most admirable works: "Arthur Hughes is one of those artists who have adopted Pre-Raphaelitism as their rule in Art. He has painted several pictures of a very exquisite description, exhibiting most delicate and refined fancy, with an admirable feeling for expression, elegance, and color…. An exquisite little picture of Rosamond in her bower, with the palace behind, and Queen Eleanor approaching along the sunlit garden-paths, was one of his most admirable works" (327).

Links to Details of the Painting, and Related Material

Bibliography

"Art and Artists. Winter Exhibition." The Critic XIV (1 January 1855): 25.

Benson, Laurie. Medieval Moderns: The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2015.

Casteras, Susan P. The Substance or the Shadow: Images of Victorian Womanhood. New Haven: Yale Center for British Art, 1982 (exhibition catalogue).

Fair Rosamund. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Web. 21 December 2021.

Gott, Ted and Laurie Benson. 19th Century Painting and Sculpture in the International Collections of the National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2003.

Larcom, Lucy. "The Two Pre- Pre-Raphaelitisms." The Crayon IV (November 1857): 325-29.

Roberts, Len. Arthur Hughes His Life and Works. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, 1997, cat. 17. 129-30.

Rossetti, William Michael. "Fine Arts. The Winter Exhibition of Cabinet Pictures." The Spectator XXVII (23 December 1854): 1366-67.

Created 21 December 2021; commentary added, 3 March 2025