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. Image courtesy of the author.
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 towards Nature Conducted principally by Artists), whose publication was delayed until 30 April 1850. Tupper's poem tells the story of Viola, in her disguise as Cesario the Duke Orsino's page, and the Lady Olivia and their shared desires:
When Viola, a servant of the Duke
Of him she loved the page, went, sent by him,
To tell Olivia that the great love which shook
His breast and stopt his tongue; was it a whim,
Or jealousy or fear that she must look
Upon the face of Olivia?
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). Gregory Suriano was even more complimentary writing that Deverell's "prominent figures would not seem out of place among Millais's later, more prosaic, wood-engravings" (35). Despite these favourable comments there is no doubt that 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." Rodney Engen points out that Deverell, although not a formal member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, was certainly fully cognizant and in agreement with their principles: "Here Deverell, an artist not noted for his illustrations, used a series of significant models to create the heavy medievalism and atmosphere of repressed love…. It was a bold attempt to encapsulate Pre-Raphaelite tenets of strong drama, symbolism (there is a symbolic birdcage on the wall) and the atmosphere of expectation which would play such an important part in the Brotherhood's work" (13).
Bibliography
Engen, Rodney. Pre-Raphaelite Prints. London: Lund Humphries, 1995. 13 & 119.
Lutyens, Mary. "Walter Howell Deverell." Ed. Leslie Parris. Pre-Raphaelite Papers. London: The Tate Gallery and Allen Lane, 1984.
Rossetti, William Michael. Introduction. The Germ: Thoughts Towards Nature in Poetry, Literature and Art. A Facsimile Reprint of the Literary Organ of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Published in 1850. London: Elliott Stock, 1901.
Suriano, Gregory R. The Pre-Raphaelite Illustrators. New Castle: Oak Knoll Press, 2000. 35 and 254.
Created 9 March 2022
Last modified 23 April 2025