Evelyn de Morgan, lady-painter and Pre-Raphaelite lover of the ancients, has presented this retiring belle as Medea, slayer of children, slayer of lil bros, slayer of old kings, slayer of giant robots, slayer of princesses, slayer of Jason’s hopes and dreams. Check out that philtre in her hand–will it inspire la petite mort, or…just mort?
First off, let’s give Evelyn some major kudos for representing Medea in an environment that may bear very little resemblance to the actual world of a demi-divine Bronze Age sorceress from the Black Sea coast, BUT that does at least recover some of the color of the ancient world. Maybe a little more on the Imperial Roman side of aesthetics, but hey it’s old and colorful (opus sectile, intricately designed marble work, for the curious).
Anyway, what’s up with Evelyn’s Medea? She’s looking pretty chilled-out, not your typical child-slayer here. And hey, no corpses–wait. What’s with those white things? Birds? Maybe the dove, symbol of Aphrodite? Let’s not forget how Aphrodite made Medea do all that nasty stuff in the first place! Almost like those doves are furies haranguing Medea, weird! And hey, a fallen flower down by her feet.
So what’s Medea’s potion? A love-potion to enchant Jason, maybe, or a poison to kill his girlfriend? What’s the difference for her? Evelyn’s Medea doesn’t give a shit.
attributed to Thomas Rooke (Burne-Jones’ assistant), after Edward Burne-Jones, Design for Christ Enthroned in the Heavenly Jerusalem, in the American Church in Rome
This is my Tolkien Secret Santa Present for @maidenofbagend!! A quite selfindulgent painting with the supreme best couple Eowyn and Faramir inspired by La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Frank Dicksee.
