''Helen of Troy'' is an 1898 painting by the English artist

Evelyn De Morgan Evelyn De Morgan (30 August 1855 – 2 May 1919) was an English painter associated early in her career with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite Movement, and working in a range of styles including Aestheticism and Symbolism. Her paintings are ...

depicting

Helen of Troy Helen (), also known as Helen of Troy, or Helen of Sparta, and in Latin as Helena, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus and Leda (mythology), ...

; it was commissioned by

William Imrie William Imrie (1836 – 7 August 1906) was a Liverpool shipowner who owned the White Star Line. He was once known as "the Prince of Shipowners". Early life His father (also William) was partner in the firm of shipbrokers called Imrie & To ...

of Liverpool. Compositionally, the painting is similar to De Morgan's ''Flora'' and ''Cassandra'':Smith 2002, pp. 92–94. Helen is standing upright and tall, in a peaceful posture that reminds to Boticcelli's representations of Greek and Roman goddesses (such as

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

) that are, at the same time, an evocation of classical art, a usual characteristic between Renaissance artists. Helen has been removed from the common artistic elements of the

Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

: despite dealing with a typically bellic topic, De Morgan decides to paint, instead of weapons and battles, the wonderful pink clothes and the fascinated look that Helena put on the mirror that is reflecting her beautiful face, elements that can be read as symbols of her inconscient vanity, which eventually brought a long and terrible war and destruction to the city of

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

, which we can see in the last term of the composition, on top of a hill. The presence of the moon-sun in the sky is also related to her feminine and voluble nature.

Notes

References

* Elise Lawton Smith, "The Art of Evelyn De Morgan", ''Woman's Art Journal'', Vol. 18, No. 2 (Autumn, 1997 - Winter, 1998), pp. 3–10. * Elise Lawton Smith, ''Evelyn Pickering de Morgan and the Allegorical Body'' (Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Press, 2002), * Heather Birchall, ''Pre-Raphaelites'' (Taschen, 2010), 1898 paintings Paintings of Greek myths Paintings in South East England Paintings by Evelyn De Morgan Cultural depictions of Helen of Troy Doves in art Moon in art Water in art Collections of the National Trust Paintings of women Mirrors in art {{1890s-painting-stub