Holman Hunt’s ‘The Lady of Shalott’

From the bank and from the river

He flashed into the crystal mirror,

“Tirra lirra,” by the river

Sang Sir Lancelot.

She left the web, she left the loom,

She made three paces through the room,

She saw the water lily bloom,

She saw the helmet and the plume,

She looked down to Camelot.

Out flew the web and floated wide;

The mirror cracked from side to side;

“The curse is come upon me,” cried

The Lady of Shalott.

(Plate 1  The Lady of Shalott, 188x 146cm, 1886-1905, Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford , Connecticut )

(* Jasmine Szu, Royal Holloway, February 1995)

澳門三日遊

儘管經濟不景氣，好友們還是決定要出遊慰勞自己一年來的辛勞，去那兒呢？……. 就去澳門吧，一個半小時就飛到了，聽聞「威尼斯人酒店」很不錯，我們一行人就出發了……….

進了飯店大廳，呵……. 果真不假，真是金碧輝煌，金光閃閃，瑞氣千條，令人炫目………

Check in 之後，花了一番功夫才找到上樓的電梯，因為飯店實在太大，我們竟然迷路了….. > <…….

進入房間之後，又是一番讚嘆，又大、又豪華、又舒適，讓人不忍離去…

當晚決定先搭免費巴士前往本島，去欣賞永利酒店的水舞表演。

這裡是享用自助早餐的餐廳噢 ~~

第二天的行程是坐巴士去參觀澳門歷史古蹟區，這裡是「議事亭前地」。

在廣場旁邊發現一條超美的小巷子.......

這是有名的「大三巴」牌坊，是澳門天主之母教堂（聖保祿教堂-- São Paulo）正面前壁的遺址。

在大三巴後面的「澳門博物館」。

晚上趕回威尼斯人酒店欣賞「太陽劇團」的表演 -- 聲光、服裝、道具、音樂、演員都是一流的。

(…….這些空中飛人可能都是外星人來的……)

位於威尼斯人酒店三樓的美食街 – 上面的天空跟真的一樣。

威尼斯人酒店三樓的「大運河」，二旁都是購物名店，可以搭乘鳳尾船遊河。

這是我們很搞笑的帥帥船夫，會唱情歌給你聽  (-- 長的很像威爾史密斯)。

誰說澳門不好玩？我們都在祈禱金沙集團不會倒閉，這樣我們以後才有機會再來澳門玩，再給「威尼斯人酒店」當貴賓………

 

               "There is no end. There is no beginning.

                                     There is only the infinite passion of life.”   

                                                        ~~ Federico Fellini (費里尼)

    我們對於生命的熱愛應該是超越一切的。那麼，創造一個豐富的人生就是必然的囉！  

       你覺得人生最重要的究竟是「結果」？還是「過程」呢? 偶爾停下來，聞聞路邊的花香，你的生命會不一樣，希望和你一起分享心靈的點點滴滴……

                                                                         The Flower Picker, 1900, Waterhouse

Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.
                                   ~Jean Jacques Rousseau   (Thanks to Mike Dunne)

                                       

   Memory is a beautiful thing if you don't have to deal with the past.
                                                         ~ BEFORE SUNSET

My Sweet Rose, 1908, Waterhouse

鄭愁予說~~

僅圖這樣走過的，西風 --

僅吹熄我的蠟燭就這樣走過了

徒留一葉未讀完的書冊在手

卻使一室的黝暗，反印了窗外的幽藍。

當落桐飄如遠年的回音，恰似指間輕掩的一葉
當晚景的情愁因燭火的冥滅而凝於眼底
 此刻，我是這樣由然地記取，那年少的時光

哎，那時光，愛情的走過一如西風的走過。

Jasmine 說~~

 當你的肩膀愈來愈沉重時, 就代表你需要去流浪了~~~

  所以 我想去流浪啊.........

 Narcissus, 1912, Waterhouse

~~Jasmine鴉鴉塗~~

~ 橋與橋的故事~

造訪過劍橋大學的人應該都見過聖約翰學院(St John’s College) )裡的這座嘆息橋(建於1831年)，康河緩緩的流動，遊客悠悠的撐篙而過，為劍橋更增添了一份美麗的悠閒。

但是，嘆息橋應該是源自於1600年的威尼斯，橫跨在Rio di Palazzo河上，連接威尼斯公爵府(道奇宮)的審訊室和老監獄。據說死囚犯將要行刑之前，就會經過這座橋，他們從橋上的小窗子看著外面的世界，為了即將結束的人生而深深的嘆息；這樣的說法彷彿為這座橋增添了一份詭異的氣息。

牛津大學也有一座嘆息橋，連結Hertford College的新舊大樓之間，建於1913年，不同的是橋下面沒有河流與船隻。我們總是笑說，學生們要考試之前大概都要在這座橋上深深嘆息吧?!

我個人最喜愛的橋是在義大利佛羅倫斯的老橋(Ponte Vecchio)，跨越亞諾河的老橋歷史真的很老，最早有文獻記載是在西元996年；橋上二側都是商店，最初是肉店，現在大多是珠寶 / 藝品 / 紀念品店聚集；買一支冰淇淋邊吃邊逛，要不要瞎拼都是享受。

布拉格的查理斯大橋也是一座很美的橋，連結舊城與布拉格城堡之間，建立於14世紀，據說當初在立基石時特別挑了一個時間：1357年7月9日5時31分，寫成數字就是1-3-5-7-9-7-5-3-1 ；橋上二側一共立了30尊聖徒雕像，其中的St. John of Nepomuk是1683年所立，也是橋上最老的雕像，據說觸摸這尊聖徒雕像可以帶來好運。查理斯大橋現在也是觀光重點之一，橋上充斥了賣紀念品的小販、街頭藝人，確實可以消磨許多時間。

「橋」在歐洲許多大城市扮演很重要的角色，它不只是提供交通的功能而已，從各種不同的形式以及講究的建築設計來看，就知道古時候的歐洲人有多麼重視他們的橋。

倫敦塔橋(Tower Bridge)，1894年，非常宏偉又有特色的橋，在倫敦塔旁邊，常被誤稱為倫敦橋。

都柏林Liffey Bridge，1816年，以前因為必須要付半個便士才能過河，又被稱為Halfpenny Bridge (Ha'penny Bridge)。

巴黎新橋(Le Pont Neuf)，1607年，塞納河上有37座橋，「新橋」卻是巴黎最古老的橋。

威尼斯Rialto Bridge，1591年，是橫跨大運河最老、最著名的一座橋，充滿文藝復興的風格。

每個人心中都有一座橋，那是人與人之間「溝通」的橋，它可以是一座普通的橋，也可以是一座美麗的橋，你希望你的橋是什麼樣子呢？

 ‘We see that in nature, all death is birth. ¼Death is only

 a crossing, a moment, but it is followed by eternity! And

 in this eternity there is as much joy for him who has Just

 been born as there is sadness here below for him who has died’.

  ---Death, Monthly Observer#11, Jan, 1849

        By Mary Nicolls (Later, Mary Meredith)

(Henry Wallis, 1856, Oil on Canvas  62x93cm, Tate Gallery, London)

The Death of Chatterton, painted between 1855 and 1856 by Henry Wallis (1830-1916), was exhibited at the Royal Academy immediately after its completion. Thomas Chatterton was a young poet born at Bristol in 1752, who fabricated poems by copying from ancient manuscripts. In April 1770 he came to London to seek success, but, four months later, committed suicide at the age of eighteen. Wallis painted this picture in the powerfully realistic style of the first phase of Pre-Raphaelitism [Plate 1].

The picture shows the young poet lying dead on his bed in a small, shabby garret. The dim light shining through the window on the young man’s bloodless, pale face suggests that he has already succumbed to poison. From the empty bottle on the floor in the foreground and the one still held by the young man, the means of death are apparent. It was said that Chatterton swallowed arsenic. Wallis indicates this through the young man’s convulsive body, showing the painful effect caused by the arsenic, although he has arranged it more gracefully than it would have been in reality. On the left side of the picture, there are torn papers and manuscripts in the wooden box, also, on the floor. Among them we can see the Middlesex Journal, the paper to which Chatterton used to contribute his writings. These scraps also symbolise the hopelessness in the young poet’s mind. The coat in crimson colour on the right of the picture and the purple-blue silk trousers which the young man is wearing reveal his taste in fashion as well as his eagerness to become successful socially. The prospects for a talented and good-looking young man, dressing smartly and bearing the title of successful writer in eighteenth-century English society, were considerable.

  The young man’s fashionable clothes make an obvious contrast with his poor room, which conveys the idea that he is indigent and penniless. The room is dark and gloomy, indicating the miserable nature of his home life. This makes a further contrast with the view outside the window. There, looking through it, is the skyline of London -- even St. Paul’s Cathedral, the symbol of faith, is visible--full of light, hope, and opportunity. But, this dark room is occupied by Death. In the background, the fading rose with the petals dropping on the windowsill and the burnt-out candle with the smoke still curling in the air, not only suggest the meaning of ‘death’ but also reinforce the funereal feeling of the whole picture. The half-open window introducing the dawning light through on the young poet’s dead body seems to hint at some kind of redemption for the sins he had committed. Timothy Hilton observes that the young man’s pose is resemblant to a pieta, ‘a lonely single bed replacing the embrace of the Virgin Mother’.

  Wallis intended to paint this picture in accordance with the truth: the major Pre-Raphaelite principle. Therefore, he went to paint it at his friend Peter Daniel’s room in Gray’s Inn, which he believed to be the place where Chatterton died. A contemporary author, also Wallis’s friend, George Meredith, posed for the dead poet. However, it is debatable whether the attic in Wallis’s painting is the actual one where the poet died. As Robin Hamlyn argues, Wallis did share the same address with Peter Daniel at 8 Gray’s Inn Square between 1855 and 1858. But, no attic is there as shown in the picture and the skyline shown through the window is different from the one in Wallis’s picture. It was assumed, in 1857, that Chatterton killed himself in a garret at 39 Brooke Street, Holborn, where a William Jefford lived, not Daniel. The exact location of the place where the poet died is still not clear. However, Hamlyn concludes that it may have been Wallis’s intention to paint the view in order to ‘render the scene of Chatterton’s death as effectively as possible’.

  Ruskin commended The Death of Chatterton as ‘the picture of the year’, describing it as ‘faultless and wonderful: a most noble example of the great school’. The unhappy, dead young poet was certainly one of the most appealing subjects for the Pre-Raphaelites; one which also attracted the attention and sympathy of Victorian society. The dead workman in another painting of Wallis’s, The Stonebreaker, exhibited in 1858, earned a less favourable response than the dead poet. It provided a social commentary on the problems of poverty and hand labour in the nineteenth century [Plate 2]. This picture was well praised by Ruskin as, again, ‘the picture of the year’, but was not much favoured by the public when compared with the more romantic and poetic subject of Chatterton.

  During the 1850s, the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites was widespread, especially on young painters. The Movement drew many artists working towards Pre-Raphaelitism. Even the established painters, like William Dyce and Augustus Egg, adapted their style in response to it. Henry Wallis was one among the young followers. Diane Johnson thus describes him as ‘a Pre-Raphaelite brother in the second degree’. Wallis came from a well-to-do family, and had studied art both in Paris and London. He was deeply attracted to the medievalizing style of the Pre-Raphaelites, and learned to paint in the Pre-Raphaelite manner. He had wished to become a great painter and it is clear that he could have done so when we look at his Chatterton and Stonebreaker. Both pictures show his incisive view towards contemporary society and his fine technique of painting. As Robin Hamlyn points out, Wallis’s Chatterton established his reputation and ‘remained¼as certainly his best known work and one of the most familiar of all nineteenth-century British pictures’. But, he did not become a great painter on a par with Hunt or Millais, after initially producing a few paintings of fine quality. Perhaps the reasons derive from his dramatic personal life.

  After finishing Chatterton, at around 1858, Wallis eloped with George Meredith’s wife. Mary Ellen Meredith, an educated and witty woman, also a daughter of the novelist Thomas Love Peacock, died of illness in 1861. Wallis traveled and wandered abroad after Mary’s death. He still painted for about twenty years, but produced fewer and fewer works and had never ever attained a success like Chatterton. Finally, his interests turned towards pottery; he also wrote books and collected ceramics, which he became an authority. Many Pre-Raphaelite followers of the 1850s changed their interests to other matters and had very short painting career. Wallis was one of them, but, an extreme example. It seems that his painting career came to an end when the elopement started. His achievement on The Death of Chatterton thus became a very pathetic one. Mary Meredith died young—at the age of forty. George Meredith became a famous novelist and poet. Henry Wallis changed his major career from that of painter to pottery expert. Still, he is known to posterity through the remarkable painting, The Death of Chatterton, which remains as striking as ever, as dramatic and touching as when first painted.

倫敦大學是由19個學院所組成，各個學院獨立招生，Royal Holloway College 是倫敦大學的學院之一，也是倫大唯一在郊區的學院，校園幅地廣大，位於Egham 小鎮上，搭火車至倫敦Waterloo車站約40分鐘。

 

 

1879年Sir Thomas Holloway創立Royal Holloway College，他的妻子建議將其改為一女子學院，後於1900年併入倫敦大學中。Founders Building 正門左邊是學校的教堂，右邊是畫廊，收藏了許多重要的英國畫作。

 

 

   

Egham

Windsor

The Lady of Shalott 是我最喜歡的主題之一，而她也是許多藝術家喜愛採用的體裁，英國詩人旦尼生(Tennyson, 1809-1892)的詩句栩栩如生地表達出她的宿命，女主角Elaine被禁錮在高塔中，而且不能直接看窗外的世界，每天除了紡織，她只能透過鏡中的倒影來看外面的事物。一天，亞瑟王麾下的第一武士Lancelot經過，他英挺的風采吸引Elaine往窗外直接望去，詛咒印驗導致房中的鏡子破裂。Elaine不顧一切冒險乘一艘小船順水而下，只為了追尋她的最愛。最後，她的船漂到下游，而她已經死去。Lancelot與眾人發現她的小船，卻只能為她的美貌遺憾。自古以來，愛情就是許多女人的全部，只不過…妳的付出，他知道嗎? 勇敢的去追尋所愛，是值得的嗎?

                                                   

       (Waterhouse, 1915)   

              

　But in her web she still delights

To weave the mirror's magic sights,

For often thro' the silent nights

A funeral, with plumes and lights,

And music, went to Camelot:

Or when the moon was overhead,

Came two young lovers lately wed;

'I am half sick of shadows,' said

The Lady of Shalott.  

  

  

 (Holman Hunt, c. 1889-92)                                                                           

 (Waterhouse, 1888)