Hello Miss Forty

The third and final painting we looked at was 'Lorenzo and Isabella', by John Everett Millais, 1849. Millais created this painting when he was just 19 years old. In this painting there is an entire story told through one scene. Lorenzo is in love with Isabella and she is also in love Lorenzo. This is made obvious by a white rose growing behind and above Lorenzo’s head and also a passion flower growing behind Isabella’s head, the two flowers are intertwined, symbolizing love. Lorenzo is an apprentice to Isabella’s rich and greedy family and her brothers did not like this, as Lorenzo couldn’t bring any money to the family. They lured Lorenzo into a wood and there, they murdered him. That night, Isabella saw the spot where he had been killed in a dream. She fled to the woods with her nurse and dug up his body. She cut off Lorenzo's head as his body was too heavy to carry, took it back to her home and planted it in a pot of basil.

In this painting, there are various uses of symbols and connotations. Behind Isabella’s brothers, there is a Falcon chewing on a white feather, this indicates murder. One of Isabella’s brother is glaring at Lorenzo through a glass of red wine, this suggests that this brother is imagining seeing Lorenzo covered in blood. On the dining table, there is a pot of spilt salt, symbolising a spilt and wasted life, which is obviously referring to Lorenzo. There are two dogs amongst the crowd, one of them is resting it’s head on Isabella’s lap, which signifies devotion. The other dog is lying underneath one of the brother’s chairs, the brother is leaning on his chair and it looks as though he is about to crush the dog, which shows the brothers are about to crush the devotion between Lorenzo and Isabella. On one side of the table there are only 4 people, yet on the other side there are eight. The wall behind the group of people is flat, although there should technically be a 90 degree corner between the wallpaper and the windows. A lot of the painting is not in proportion, though it isn’t obvious at first glance. Finally, every person on the table is in profile, except for Lorenzo. Lorenzo is the only person who has been displayed with both eyes. Maybe this is so the viewer can connect with Lorenzo and feel empathy for him.