Helen

Sir Edward John Poynter Bt PRA RWS (1839-1919)

1881

Oil on canvas

91.7 x 71.5 cm.

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Exhibited: The Royal Academy, 1881.

Angus Trumble points out that "the painting was widely understood in fashionable society as a veiled portrait of Lillie Langtry, the most beautiful woman in London, and the focus of much public interest due to her notorious liason with the Prince of Wales" (p. 164). Langtry also posed for Dame Fortune in The Wheel of Fortune by Poynter's brother-in-law, Edward Burne-Jones.

The painting appears here courtesy of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which retains copyright; it may not be reproduced without permission of the museum.

Other Representations of Helen

• D. G. Rossetti's painting
• D. G. Rossetti's "Troy Town"

References

Trumble, Angus. Love and Death in the Age of Queen Victoria. Adelaide: Art Gallery of South Australia. 2002.

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Last modified 1 August 2001