'The Eve of St Agnes', Arthur Hughes

Artwork details

Artist

Arthur Hughes (1832‑1915)

Title

The Eve of St Agnes

Date 1856

MediumOil paint on canvas

Dimensionssupport: 710 x 1245 mm frame: 1010 x 1545 x 100 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Bequeathed by Mrs Emily Toms in memory of her father, Joseph Kershaw 1931

Reference

N04604

On loan to Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)

Summary

The prototype for this work was William Holman Hunt's 1848 painting, The Flight of Madeline and Porphyro during the Drunkenness Attending the Revelry (The Eve of St Agnes) (Guildhall Art Gallery, Corporation of London), based on Keats's Eve of St Agnes (published 1820). Hughes's triptych depicts three scenes from Keats's poem: Porphyro's approach to the castle (left), the awakening of Madeline (centre), and the lovers' stealthy escape over the drunken porter (right). The following lines from the poem are written in paint at the bottom of the original gold frame:

They told her how, upon St Agnes' Eve,
Young virgins might have visions of delight,
And soft adorings from their loves receive
Upon the honey'd middle of the night… (read more)