The luminsity of this painting and its careful attention to detail heighten the emotion in this episode from Tennyson's poem. One canalmost feel the cool of the day as the doomed girl begins her final journey, her haunting beauty dominating the scene. Apart from from telling a tragic story, this work is an exercise in closely observed landscape painting - each rush and has been painstakingly depicted and the same attention has been paid to rendering the reflections on the water. Waterhouse was a follower of the Pre-Raphaelite artists and continued their interest in depicting scenes from poetry and mythology. He displayed an unerring feel for the dramatic moment, combined with a fine sense of composition and superb painting technique. Above all, though, it is the beauty of his wistful female models (in this instance believed to be the artist's wife) that has ensured the artist's lasting popularity.
