Aurora Leigh's Dismissal of Romney ("The Tryst"), by Arthur Hughes (1832-1915). 1860. Oil on panel. 15½ x 12¼ inches (39.4 x 31 cm). Collection of Tate Britain, accession no. N05245. Image released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivitives licence (CC BY-NC-ND). [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
The subject of this picture is taken from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's long narrative poem Aurora Leigh first published towards the end of 1856. This poem was much admired by members of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. William Michael Rossetti, in a letter to William Bell Scott of 4 January 1857 wrote: "Aurora Leigh was sent to Gabriel, (as also to Woolner) by Mrs. Browning herself; and both of them are unboundedly enthusiastic about it. I have read as yet something less than two books of it, stuffed and loaded with poetic beauty and passionate sympathy and insight" (Peattie, letter 45, 73) In a follow-up letter of 17 February 1857, W.M. Rossetti wrote: "Aurora Leigh I am still reading. It is a most wonderful thing. One scarcely knows at what point to stop one's enthusiasm, the wealth of poetic thought and sympathy is so magnificent, and yet one feels that there is a certain excess in it. Ruskin calls it the most splendid thing in the English language" (Peattie, letter 47, 77). Despite the admiration of the Pre-Raphaelites for this book, it appears that only Arthur Hughes painted a work based on it.
Leslie Parris has discussed the subject portrayed in Hughes's painting:
Aurora, an orphan adopted by an unsympathetic aunt, aspires to be a poet. On the morning of her twentieth birthday she rejects a proposal of marriage from her wealthy cousin Romney Leigh, who scorns her verses and expect her to dedicate herself to his own philanthropic scheme. What you love, Aurora tells him.
"Is not a woman, Romney, but a cause:
You want a helpmate, not a mistress, sir.
A wife to help your ends, – in her no end!
I have a vocation," she says. [190]
In the painting Romney, having heard Aurora's refusal, is about to take his leave. In her left hand, Aurora holds a book of her verses which Romney has found in the garden and ridiculed with his doubts about a woman's ability to create meaningful art. The white lilies are symbolic of Aurora's virginal status and allude to her future unmarried life devoted to her art. Hughes had originally painted Romney holding a hat in his right hand, then changed the position of it, but eventually painted out both versions. The overpainting has now become translucent, however, revealing the "ghosts" of the two hats.
This painting was never exhibited during Hughes's lifetime because it had been directly commissioned for 30 guineas by Ellen Heaton of Leeds on the advice of John Ruskin. Ruskin had much earlier told her in a letter of mid-November 1855 that "I think Hughes quite safe – everybody will like what he does" (Surtees, letter H.23, 175). It appears, however, that Heaton was not particularly happy with the picture she received because she had expected it to represent a slightly earlier incident in the poem, the cousins' animated argument after Aurora's refusal of Rodney's marriage proposal. Ruskin wrote to her on December 14, 1860: "I like Hughes Picture exceedingly – it is not Aurora Leigh in the least but you cannot expect a young man– happy in wife & family – & full of exceeding tenderness – to understand the fiery depths of stormy Sunrise. The picture is a charming one of two people in love. It has its faults of course – but you are fortunate in possessing it" (Surtees, letter H.90, 227-28).
Hughes replied to Heaton's concern in his own letter of December 14, 1860:
Many thanks for your letter. I am afraid I am totally unable to enhance the value of my painting by attempting to elucidate my reading of the subject. If I could play with words perhaps I would have painted with them instead. However in as few as possible let me say I think you rather conceive an earlier moment of the interview than I have painted or attempted to paint. I think Aurora's "half petulant, half playful" expression would have lasted only while speaking, the appropriate accompaniment to her feeling. And Romney I certainly hoped did look somewhat disconcerted and distressed. The moment I chose to paint was the best – Romney turning away – and should perhaps properly have included the aunt, but that the incident concerned those two chiefly. If I had not chosen that moment, the story as Romney's dismissal would I think have been confused; it would rather have seemed a quarrel of which we did not see the end nor know the cause. Remember I speak from my painter side, who has, you know, only one moment for all his drama. I hope you will try and think with me. Mr. Ruskin said to me "but wasn't Aurora tremendously angry." I should also say that he repeated "Beautiful, Beautiful" once or twice, and said he should inform you that you had a prize. I did not attempt to explain the painting to him beyond saying that I thought Aurora had not been very angry at the moment of Romney's leaving. The dress is not a white one, which I thought would not be agreeable, but a sea green tint; a white could only be very slightly tinted in parts from the landscape near. [Roberts, cat. 46, 148]
Heaton had obviously wanted Aurora shown in a white dress as in the poem, but Hughes felt that a sea-green dress would better complement the landscape. Heaton had likely selected a subject from Browning for the commission as the poetess was a friend of hers. Upstone feels Hughes may have used himself and his wife Tryphena as the models for the figures (106). Miss Heaton must have eventually have become reconciled to the picture, as she later commissioned another painting from Hughes for 35 gns., That was a Piedmontese, that was completed by July 1862 (Tate Britain, accession no. NO5244). The subject was again taken form a poem from Mrs. Browning.
Bibliography
Aurora Leigh's Dismissal of Romney (The Tryst). Art UK. Web. 8 March 2025.
Aurora Leigh's Dismissal of Romney (The Tryst). Tate. Web. 8 March 2025.
Mander, Rosalie. "'The Tryst' Unravelled." Apollo LXXIX (March 1964): 221-23.
Parris, Leslie. The Pre-Raphaelites. London: Tate Gallery, 1984, cat. 113.
Peattie, Roger W.: Ed. Selected letters of William Michael Rossetti. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 1990.
Roberts, Len. Arthur Hughes His Life and Works. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, 1997, cat. 46.
Surtees, Virginia Ed. Sublime & Instructive. Letters from John Ruskin to Louisa, Marchioness of Waterford, Anna Blunden and Ellen Heaton. London: Michael Joseph, 1972.
Upstone, Robert. The Pre-Raphaelite Dream. Paintings and Drawings from the Tate Collection. London: Tate Publishing, 2003, cat. 35.
Created 8 March 2025