"If one could have that little head of hers....," by Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale, ROI, RWS (1872-1945)

If I could have that little head of hers / Painted upon a background of pale gold

Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale, ROI, RWS (1872-1945)

Illustration

1909

Signed EFB

Source: Browning, facing p. 74

Click on the image to enlarge it. For commentary see below; mouse over the text for links.

Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale and Robert Browning

The Forerunner

Robert Browning and his poetry (sitemap)

Image scan and text by Jacqueline Banerjee.

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Internet Archive and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

This is an illustration of Browning's poem, "The Face," the opening lines of which provide the caption. It presents a male view of female beauty which is all too typical of Browning's speakers. Those first words alone are ominous, suggesting possessiveness and the desire to freeze, objectify and control the object of desire. Indeed, there is something static and statuesque about this figure, in her jewelled Renaissance-style headwear, costume and setting — for she is pinned, as it were, against the halo-like rondel surrounding her face. It is beautiful, though, as a work of art, and one can see why Brickdale seems to have returned to it as the model for Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan, in her later oil-painting, The Forerunner.

Bibliography

Browning, Robert. Dramatis Personae & Dramatic Romances and Lyrics. London: Chatto and Windus, 1909. Internet Archive. Web. 9 June 2026.

Created 9 June 2026