Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/william-morris-388" aria-label="More by William Morris" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">William Morris</a>
La Belle Iseult
Bequeathed by Miss May Morris 1939
actions: postures and motions
actions: processes and functions
adults
animals: mammals
arts and entertainment
bed
bedroom
book - non-specific
Burden, Jane
clothing and personal items
contemplation
crown
dog, greyhound
domestic
dress
dressing / undressing
emotional states and conditions
emotions and human qualities
emotions, concepts and ideas
fine arts and music
food and drink
fruit, orange
furnishings
history
individuals: female
instrument, psaltery
interiors
leisure and pastimes
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
Malory, Thomas, Sir, ‘Le Morte d’Arthur’
memory - rosemary
mirror
Morris, Jane
music
music and entertainment
musician
named individuals
objects
people
period: Middle Ages
plants and flowers
politics and society
portraits
queen
reading, writing, printed matter
religious and ceremonial
rosemary
royalty and social rank
standing
symbols and personifications
woman
work and occupations
<p>The inspiration for this painting was Thomas Malory's 'Morte d'Arthur' (1485), in which Guinevere's adulterous love for Sir Lancelot is one of the central themes. The model is Jane Burden who became Morris's wife in 1859, and also appears in Rossetti's 'Proserpine' displayed nearby. She was 'discovered' by Morris and Rossetti when they were working together on the Oxford Union murals, the subject matter for which was also taken from Malory. The painting is essentially a portrait of her in medieval dress. It is a splendid expresion of the intense medieval style prevailing in Rossetti's circle in the late 1850s, with its emphasis on pattern and historical detail. This is Morris's only completed oil painting.</p><p><em>Gallery label, September 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
1 January 2001 – 25 January 2013
2013-01-25
1 January 2001 – 25 January 2013
2013-01-25
2001-01-01
Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK)
http://www.vam.ac.uk
2001-01-01
Long term loan
Loan-out
2 April 2011 – 17 June 2012
2012-06-17
2 April 2011 – 17 July 2011
2011-07-17
2011-04-02
Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK)
http://www.vam.ac.uk
2011-04-02
The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900
Loan-out
12 September 2012 – 31 January 2014
2014-01-31
12 September 2012 – 13 January 2013
2013-01-13
2012-09-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
17 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-17
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
10 June 2013 – 22 September 2013
2013-09-22
2013-06-10
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
19 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-19
Palazzo Chiablese (Turin, Italy)
2012-09-12
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Exhibition
17 February 2013 – 31 August 2014
2014-08-31
17 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-17
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
10 June 2013 – 13 October 2013
2013-10-13
2013-06-10
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
19 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-19
Palazzo Chiablese (Turin, Italy)
2013-02-17
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Loan-out
16 October 2014 – 11 January 2015
2015-01-11
16 October 2014 – 11 January 2015
2015-01-11
2014-10-16
National Portrait Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.npg.org.uk
2014-10-16
Anarchy and Beauty: William Morris and His Legacy, 1860-1960
Loan-out
2 October 2017 – 2 April 2018
2018-04-02
2 October 2017 – 2 April 2018
2018-04-02
2017-10-02
National Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
2017-10-02
Jan van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites
Loan-out
14 December 2018 – 19 September 2021
2021-09-19
14 December 2018 – 28 April 2019
2019-04-28
2018-12-14
National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australia)
13 May 2021 – 19 September 2021
2021-09-19
2021-05-13
Hungarian National Gallery (Budapest, Hungary)
2018-12-14
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Tate partnerships & programmes
17 October 2019 – 26 January 2020
2020-01-26
1 October 2019 – 31 January 2020
2020-01-31
2019-10-01
National Portrait Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.npg.org.uk
2019-10-17
Pre-Raphaelite Sisters
Loan-out
14 October 2022 – 30 September 2023
2023-09-30
14 October 2022 – 22 February 2023
2023-02-22
2022-10-14
William Morris Gallery (London, UK)
4 February 2023 – 5 June 2023
2023-06-05
2023-02-04
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Trust (Carlisle, UK)
17 June 2023 – 30 September 2023
2023-09-30
2023-06-17
Falmouth Art Gallery (Falmouth, UK)
2022-10-14
The Legend of King Arthur: A Pre-Raphaelite Love Story
Loan-out
La Belle Iseult
support: 718 × 502 mm
frame: 960 × 755 × 61 mm
Bequeathed by Miss May Morris 1939
<p>This is the only completed easel <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> that William Morris produced. It is a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portrait</span></a> in medieval dress of Jane Burden, whom Morris married in April 1859. The picture has been identified in the past as <i>Queen Guenevere</i>, partly owing to the fact that Morris published his first volume of poetry, <i>The Defence of Guenevere</i>, in March 1858.  However, recent research has established convincingly that the picture is intended to represent Iseult mourning Tristram's exile from the court of King Mark.

</p><p>Iseult appears to have recently arisen from her bed, where a small greyhound lies curled up among the crumpled sheets. In <i>Le Morte d'Arthur</i> (<i>c</i>.1470), the author, Sir Thomas Malory (<i>c</i>.1405-71), reminds us that 'the queen had always a little brachet [bitch-hound] with her that Sir Tristram gave her the first time that ever she came into Cornwall, and never would that brachet depart from her but if Sir Tristram was nigh' (quoted in Banham and Harris, p.115).  She stands wistfully in her small chamber, her feelings for Tristram reinforced by the sprigs of rosemary, symbolising remembrance, in her crown, and the word 'DOLOURS' (grief) written down the side of her mirror.

</p><p>The rich colours, the emphasis on pattern and details such as the illuminated missal reveal where Morris's true talents lay. He was less at home with figure painting than with illumination, embroidery and woodcarving, and he struggled for months on this picture. He worked for much of the time at 17 Red Lion Square, the rooms he shared with Edward Burne-Jones. Many of the furnishings such as the Turkish rug, Persian embroidered cover and whitework hangings on the bed were probably in Morris's personal collection.  The background <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/panel" title="Glossary definition for 'Panel'"><span>panel</span></a> is close in style to the heavy tapestries designed by Morris for Red Lion Square and the table cover is of the type taken as a model by Morris and Webb for the firm's church furnishings. 

</p><p>In 1874 the picture was claimed as his own by Ford Madox Brown's son Oliver.  Rossetti, who had a great fondness for Jane Burden, offered him £20 for it as 'an early portrait of its original, of whom I have made so many studies myself' (quoted in Parry, p.103).  The picture eventually passed to Rossetti's brother, William Michael. It lay forgotten in a cupboard until Rossetti's death, when it was returned to Jane Burden.

</p><p><b>Further reading:<br/></b>Joanna Banham and Jennifer Harris (eds), <i>William Morris and the Middle Ages</i>, exhibition catalogue, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester 1984, pp.114-6, reproduced pl.IV, in colour.<br/>Leslie Parris (ed.), <i>The Pre-Raphaelites</i>, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1984, reprinted 1994, pp.169-70; reproduced p.169.<br/>Linda Parry (ed.), <i>William Morris</i>, exhibition catalogue, Victoria &amp; Albert Museum, London 1996, pp.102-3, reproduced p.89, in colour.

</p><p>Frances Fowle<br/>December 2000</p>
Summary
2005-09-15T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
<p>The inspiration for this <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> was Thomas  Malory's 'Morte d'Arthur' (1485), in which  Guinevere's adulterous love for Sir Lancelot is  one of the central themes. The model is Jane  Burden who became Morris's wife in 1859, and also  appears in Rossetti's 'Proserpine' displayed  nearby. She was 'discovered' by Morris and  Rossetti when they were working together on the  Oxford Union murals, the subject matter for which  was also taken from Malory. The painting is  essentially a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portrait</span></a> of her in medieval dress.  It is a splendid expresion of the intense medieval  style prevailing in Rossetti's circle in the late  1850s, with its emphasis on pattern and historical  detail. This is Morris's only completed oil  painting.</p>
Display caption
2004-09-09T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
actions: postures and motions actions: processes and functions adults animals: mammals arts and entertainment bed bedroom book - non-specific Burden, Jane clothing and personal items contemplation crown dog, greyhound domestic dress dressing / undressing emotional states and conditions emotions and human qualities emotions, concepts and ideas fine arts and music food and drink fruit, orange furnishings history individuals: female instrument, psaltery interiors leisure and pastimes literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) Malory, Thomas, Sir, ‘Le Morte d’Arthur’ memory - rosemary mirror Morris, Jane music music and entertainment musician named individuals objects people period: Middle Ages plants and flowers politics and society portraits queen reading, writing, printed matter religious and ceremonial rosemary royalty and social rank standing symbols and personifications woman work and occupations