''Isabella'' (1848-1849) is a painting by

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

, which was his first exhibited work in the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

style, completed shortly after the formation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848. It was first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1849, and is now in the collection of the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

in Liverpool.

Subject

The painting illustrates an episode from Giovanni Boccaccio's

Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; it, label=Italian, Decameron or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old it, Prencipe Galeotto, links=no ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dan ...

novel ''Lisabetta e il testo di bassilico'' (1349 - 1353), reprised by John Keats's poem, ''

Isabella, or the Pot of Basil ''Isabella, or the Pot of Basil'' (1818) is a narrative poem by John Keats adapted from a story in Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' (IV, 5). It tells the tale of a young woman whose family intend to marry her to "some high noble and his olive trees", ...

'', which describes the relationship between Isabella, the sister of wealthy medieval merchants, and Lorenzo, an employee of Isabella's brothers. It depicts the moment at which Isabella's brothers realise that there is a romance between the two young people, and plot to murder Lorenzo so they can marry Isabella to a wealthy nobleman. Isabella, wearing grey at the right, is being handed a

blood orange The blood orange is a variety of orange ( ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'') (also referred to as raspberry orange) with crimson, almost blood-colored flesh. The distinctive dark flesh color is due to the presence of anthocyanins, a family of polyp ...

on a plate by the doomed Lorenzo. A cut blood orange is symbolic of the neck of someone who has just been decapitated, referring to Isabella cutting off Lorenzo's head to take it with her after finding him buried. One of her brothers violently kicks a frightened dog while cracking a nut. Millais and his colleague

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolis ...

had both produced drawings illustrating episodes from the poem, but only Millais worked his up into a full painting (Hunt's 1868 '' Isabella and the Pot of Basil'' used a completely different composition). Both drawings used distorted perspective and angular poses characteristic of medieval art, by which the Pre-Raphaelites were influenced. Millais also draws on the precedent of

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like ...

's satirical depictions of an arranged marriage '' Marriage à-la-mode''. As has been suggested by some, the figure of Isabella is probably inspired by that of the Duchess of Milan

Beatrice d'Este Beatrice d'Este (29 June 1475 – 3 January 1497), was Duchess of Bari and Milan by marriage to Ludovico Sforza (known as "il Moro"). She was one of the most important personalities of the time and, despite her short life, she was a major playe ...

, of whom Milleis himself had just reproduced a drawing and from which he takes up the hairstyle of the '' coazzone'' (the long braid covered with cloth that falls behind the shoulders). Beatrice_nella_Pala_Sforzesca

Composition and meaning

The painting is structured with deliberately distorted perspective, elongating the right hand side of the table and flattening the figures ranged along it. Following Pre-Raphaelite theory, Millais almost eliminates

chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

and exaggerates the intensity of juxtaposed colours and tones - as evidenced in the flat black tunic set against the sharply modelled white cloth of the servant at the right, whose lower body virtually disappears as his yellow stockings semi-merge with the background. Millais also carefully characterises each figure with equal precision. Another distinctive Pre-Raphaelite feature is the inclusion of images and patterns within the image as a whole. Each of the plates has a distorted picture glazed into its surface. The base of the bench on which Isabella sits contains a carving depicting a kneeling figure under which appear the letters PRB (standing for Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood). The central motif of the thuggish brother's kicking leg and upturned chair further disturbs the equilibrium of the composition, as does the deliberately confusing "crowding" of the figures on the table and elaboration of motifs.

Hidden phallic symbols

In 2012, British art curator Carol Jacobi published an article about sexual symbols in the painting. They were all on or near the character in the front left, who is stretching out his leg and using a nutcracker. The shadow on the table near his crotch area, his leg, and the nutcracker were all argued to represent a phallus. Jacobi said: "The shadow is clearly phallic, and it also references the sex act, with the salt tipped into the shadow." She also argued that it would have been deliberate, but did not know what the painter's intention with it was. However, she stated that it was "not a Freudian slip, or a hypocritical, furtive innuendo. The imagery of masturbation and the anxieties around it and being unable to control yourself sexually would have been well known."

Adaptation

Sam Walsh (1934-1989) painted ''The Dinner Party'' in 1980. It is one of his most complex works and is inspired by Millais' Pre-Raphaelite painting Isabella. Both paintings are in the

at Liverpool. In this interpretation, the sitters, who would never have met all at the same time, are people from all periods of its life.

References

External links

Tate Shots: Millais's ''Isabella''Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery's Pre-Raphaelite Online Resource
Several studies pencil on paper for ''Isabella'' painting. {{John Everett Millais Paintings by John Everett Millais 1849 paintings Paintings in the collection of the Walker Art Gallery Adaptations of works by Giovanni Boccaccio Dogs in art Food and drink paintings