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Death of a Butterfly
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
The butterfly personified by a lady with golden hair is collapsing on the ground a rainbow behind her symbolises her goodness and salvation. The angel of death with dark wings appears to the right of the picture in order to claim the butterfly….
Queen Eleanor and the Fair Rosamund
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
Rosamund was the mistress of Henry II, who built a house for her at Woodstock in Oxfordshire. Legends say that he tried to keep her safe by installing her in a house called Labyrinthus, which was in effect a maze. But Queen Eleanor found her way through by using a thread and poisoned her. The maze c…
Lux in Tenebris
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
After Evelyn and WIlliam were married in 1887 she became particularly close to her mother-in-law Sophia De Morgan. Sophia was heavily involved with Spiritualism and her interests influenced both of the artistic couple. One particular theme in Evelyn’s work which developed from this new found involve…
Sleep and Death: The Children of Night
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
In this painting Evelyn portrays two young boys resting against the Lady of the Night, whose cloak flies behind her in the wind. The children are allegorical representations of Sleep who rests against the lady’s knee and Death who stares out of the canvas holding an extinguished torch symbolic of th…
Port After Stormy Seas
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
The title is a quotation from Spenser’s The Fairie Queen
Sleep after toyle,
port after stormy seas,
Ease after Warre,
death after life doe greatly please.
The painting indicates that the woman has achieved a peaceful death after a stormy life. She has safely navigated the stormy seas on the ri…
The Light Shineth in Darkness and the Darkness Comprehendeth It Not
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
The title comes from the Latin Gospel of St John, which refers to Christ as the light of men the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The angelic central figure of the painting sits amongst light and rainbows, looking down with an expression of pity and lifting he…
Earthbound
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
Walter Shaw Sparrow (1900) explained this painting as follows:
In a dark and desolate country, an aged king broods over his hoard of gold, while the dark Angel of Death approaches, a cloud-like mantle floating around her. It is strewn with stars and a moon shines dimly in the angels dusky wing, al…
A Soul in Hell
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
In the painting a seated man in rich robes is clearly in torment. There is nothing around him to suggest external reasons for his torment. However, when it was displayed at the Red Cross Benefit Exhibition In 1916 it was described in the catalogue as follows:
This man, surrounded by all that is be…
Luna
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
Luna depicts the moon personified as a young woman with blond wavy hair, draped in blue robes resting in the crescent of the moon. The ropes in which she is entwined may symbolise bondage to her constant round. The artist may also have had in mind the classical idea of the Moon Goddess as controller…
