Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/philip-hermogenes-calderon-77" aria-label="More by Philip Hermogenes Calderon" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Philip Hermogenes Calderon</a>
Broken Vows
Purchased 1947
actions: processes and functions
adults
architecture
collapse
despair
diseases and conditions
emotional states and conditions
emotions and human qualities
emotions, concepts and ideas
fence
infidelity
ivy
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, ‘The Spanish Student’
looking / watching
love
love, everlasting - ivy
people
plants and flowers
sex and relationships
society
symbols and personifications
townscapes / man-made features
woman
<p>The title of this painting suggests that the woman has recently discovered that her lover, whose initials are carved in the fence, has been unfaithful. Further details, including the discarded necklace and dying flowers, indicate her unhappy situation. The ivy-covered wall may symbolise her previous belief that their love was everlasting. Disappointed love was a popular theme in Victorian painting, and viewers were expected to unravel the situation from the symbols and expressions of the characters.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2007</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
29 August 2001 – 25 July 2005
2005-07-25
29 August 2001
2001-08-29
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-08-29
Art and Victorian Society
Collection based display
1 August 2005 – 2 March 2008
2008-03-02
1 August 2007
2007-08-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2005-08-01
Victorian Paintings of Modern Life
Collection based display
19 May 2012 – 2 December 2012
2012-12-02
19 May 2012 – 2 December 2012
2012-12-02
2012-05-19
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-05-19
Victorian Sentimentality
Collection based display
12 September 2012 – 31 January 2014
2014-01-31
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
2012-09-12
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Exhibition
17 February 2013 – 31 August 2014
2014-08-31
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
2013-02-17
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Loan-out
10 October 2014 – 1 November 2015
2015-11-01
10 October 2014 – 1 November 2015
2015-11-01
2014-10-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2014-10-10
Poor Man's Picture Gallery
Collection based display
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)
19 June 2019 – 6 October 2019
2019-10-06
2019-06-19
Palazzo Reale (Milan, Italy)
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
Broken Vows
support: 914 × 679 mm
frame: 1205 × 980 × 104 mm
Purchased 1947
<div><p><span>The title of this painting suggests the woman has recently discovered that her lover, whose initials are carved in the fence, has been unfaithful. Further details, including the discarded necklace and dying flowers, indicate her unhappy situation. The ivy-covered wall may symbolise her previous belief that their love was everlasting. Disappointed love was a popular theme in Victorian painting, and viewers were expected to unravel the situation from the symbols and expressions of the characters.</span></p></div>
Online caption
2024-04-22T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
actions: processes and functions adults architecture collapse despair diseases and conditions emotional states and conditions emotions and human qualities emotions, concepts and ideas fence infidelity ivy literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, ‘The Spanish Student’ looking / watching love love, everlasting - ivy people plants and flowers sex and relationships society symbols and personifications townscapes / man-made features woman