19th and 20th century artists romanticized Elaine of Astolat for Victorian and Edwardian audiences.
“The Lady of Shalott Poem.” Pinterest, i.pinimg.com/564x/dc/ef/e6/dcefe6638fa620fd088d61f3f326a338.jpg.
This online exhibition offers examples of the Arthurian figure of Elaine of Astolat/the Lady of Shalott in art and illustration between the 1850s and the 1910s. The phrase “flowing down to Camelot,” appears as a line in both the 1832 and 1842 versions of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem, “The Lady of Shalott.” In these poems, the line describes the scenic and romantic river that flows between Shalott and Camelot, but by the end of the poem, Elaine, the Lady of Shalott herself, floats down the river as “a pale, pale corpse.” Tennyson’s powerful descriptions of setting and interpretation of a tragic character have inspired artists and illustrators into the 20th and 21st centuries. The visual art displayed and analyzed in this exhibition depict Elaine’s body splayed in the boat or barge. In combining history, art, poetry, and adaptation, I aim to discuss Arthurian art as adaptation of narrative and analyze differences in styles and storytelling.