Sights and Sounds of Millais' Love Tragedy

Look, listen, and discover that Millais' 'Lorenzo and Isabella' painting holds more than meets the eye

By Google Arts & Culture

Lorenzo and Isabella by Sir John Everett MillaisGuildhall Art Gallery & London's Roman Amphitheatre

Detail 01 - John Everett Millais
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Don’t you sense a tense atmosphere in this tableful of people? Sidelong glances, concerned looks. It seems that something terrible is about to happen... and it is indeed.

Detail 02 - John Everett Millais
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Millais tells us a story of bygone days in Pre-Raphaelite style, carrying us into medieval Florence with a narration rich in details and symbolic references… 

Detail 03 - John Everett Millais
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A hawk clasps a dove’s feather. An image of violence and abuse of power alluding to a tragic event. 

Detail 04 - John Everett Millais
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Just like the cracked walnuts on the table… 

Detail 05 - John Everett Millais
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…or the spilt salt, an evil omen. 

Detail 06 - John Everett Millais
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Where is this misfortune heading This man’s look is the answer - apparently focused on the wine...

Detail 07 - John Everett Millais
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...he’s  staring instead at the young lovers. This is the doomed love story of Isabella – a wealthy merchants’ sister – and Lorenzo – their humble apprentice. It's adapted from a poem by John Keats which was inspired by Boccaccio's Decameron.

Detail 08 - John Everett Millais
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The girl’s brothers have found out everything and they’re not pleased at all! The brothers’ brutality is expressed by one of their faces: as uncouth and cruel as his nature.

Detail 09 - John Everett Millais
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The blood orange, offered by Lorenzo to his lover, brings together the tragic tale: the red color is both a symbol of passion and of the blood which is going to be shed. At the end of the meal, the beastly brothers will kill the young boy accomplishing a foreseen tragedy.

Credits: Story

Text and sounds by eArs ▬ making arts & culture a place for everybody 

Credits: All media
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