Fair Rosamund in her Bower by William Bell Scott, 1811-90

Fair Rosamund in her Bower

William Bell Scott [?]

[after 1854]

Oil on canvas

23 3/4 x 19 1/2 inches

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Comentary by Rupert Maas

Scott first painted the subject of Rosamund in 1854, for exhibition in the Royal Scottish Academy. This version is later, but hard to date precisely. The legend of the fair Rosamund had it that she was a beautiful and virtuous woman, loved by King Henry II. Her bower was said to have been surrounded by impenetrable thickets of roses (in the language of courtly love, this represented chastity).

It hung at Penkill Castle, where it was painted. Penkill, in Ayrshire, Scotland, was the ancient family seat of Scott's faithful friend, Alice Boyd. Scott visited annually until 1885, when he moved in permanently. He wrote: "The glen below the house was the most interesting to me, and revived my ancient landscape proclivities. Every summer for nearly ten years I painted there." (Minto, vol. II, pp. 75-6) Scott was an intimate and faithful friend of Rossetti, also both poet and painter. Through Rossetti, Scott knew Holman Hunt, too, and contributed two poems to The Germ in 1850. However, because he remained in Newcastle until 1864, and because he was nearly twenty years their senior, he had no closer involvement in the affairs of the Pre-Raphaelites.

Bibliography

Maas, Rupert. British Pictures. London: The Maas Gallery. 2006. Catalogue number 45.

Minto, W. (editor) Autobiographical Notes of the Life of William Bell Scott and Notices of his Artistic and Poetic Circle of Friends 1830 to 1882. 2 vols. London: James R. Osgood, Mcllvaine & Co., 1892.

Last modified 26 January 2007