Viola and Olivia, 1850. Etching in black ink on paper, 6 ⅞ x 4 ⅝ inches (17.5 x 11.7 cm) – image size. Private collection.
This etching illustrates a poem by John Lucas Tupper of the same name derived from Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night. The print was included as the frontispiece for the No. 4 edition of The Germ (Art and Poetry: Being Thoughts Toward Nature Conducted Principally by Artists), published in May 1850. This was Deverell’s only known etching. W. M. Rossetti, in his preface to the facsimile edition of 1901 of The Germ, states: “By John L. Tupper: ‘Viola and Olivia.’ The verses are not of much significance. The etching by Deverell, however defective in technique, claims more attention, as the Viola was drawn from Miss Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal, whom Deverell had observed in a bonnet-shop some few months before the etching was done, and who in 1860 became the wife of Dante Rossetti. This face does not give much idea of hers, and yet it is not unlike her in a way. The face of Olivia bears some resemblance to Christina Rossetti: I think however that it was drawn, not from her, but from a sister of the artist” (25). Mary Lutyens commented that “the etching has a certain awkward charm” (81) but it is definitely the weakest of the four etchings produced for this publication
In the etching Viola, disguised as a servant, raises the veil of the Countess Olivia who is seated on a couch leaning on her right elbow and with her chin resting on her hand. In Act III, Scene I, of Shakespeare’s play Viola, this time disguised as a young man Cesario, once again comes to Olivia to press the suit of his master, the Duke Orsino. Olivia, however, is smitten with Cesario and declares her love for the young "man."
Bibliography
Lutyens, Mary. “Walter Howell Deverell.” Ed. Leslie Parris. Pre-Raphaelite Papers. London: The Tate Gallery and Allen Lane, 1984.
Last modified 9 March 2022