“Like many of the early Pre-Raphaelites who came before him, John William Waterhouse found inspiration in the romantic narratives of the Middle-Ages. While based loosely on verifiable facts, the legend of Rosamund and Queen Eleanor is likely as much of a fairy tale as it is an accurate account…

Waterhouse…depicts the moment in which Queen Eleanor penetrates the labyrinthine castle that Henry built for his mistress Rosamund, intent upon killing her rival. The queen holds a strand of the very thread which Rosamund uses in her weaving, depicting three riders approaching a castle, which she used to guide her through the maze and to her victim. As Peter Trippi describes the scene: “Rosamond pauses to watch for her lover, unaware that her life will be cut like the thread that betrays her. Her namesake flower winds precariously along the window, symbolizing the love that offends the homely queen, glimpsed through the curtains ominously decorated with sword-brandishing riders. The threat Rosamond poses to Eleanor is reinforced by her little crown.”

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John William Waterhouse At Sunnyside

John William Waterhouse at Christie’s

John William Waterhouse at Sotheby’s

John William Waterhouse at wikimedia commons

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John William Waterhouse at wikiwand

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~Sunnyside