My favourite red-heads



Psyche Opening the Door into Cupid's Garden
Psyche Opening the Door into Cupid's Garden
John William Waterhouse

Lamia
Lamia
John William Waterhouse

Lilith
Lilith
Hon John Collier

Love's Shadow
Love's Shadow
Anthony Frederick Sandys

Danae
Danae
Gustav Klimt

Helen of Troy
Helen of Troy
Anthony Frederick Sandys

Lamia
Lamia
John William Waterhouse

It was this latter incarnation of Lamia as a beautiful woman that inspired John Keats to write his poem Lamia, published in 1820. Waterhouse bases his portrayal of Lamia upon Keats' poem:

 

She was a gordian shape of dazzling hue,
Vermilion-spotted, golden, green, and blue;
Striped like a zebra, freckled like a pard,
Eyed like a peacock, and all crimson barr'd; 
And full of silver moons, that, as she breathed,
Dissolv'd, or brighter shone, or interwreathed
Their lustres with the gloomier tapestries--
So rainbow-sided, touch'd with miseries,
She seem'd, at once, some penanced lady elf,
Some demon's mistress, or the demon's self.

La Belle Dame Sans Merci
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
Sir Frank Dicksee
This painting is based on La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats.

Lady Lilith
Lady Lilith
Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Head of a Woman
Head of a Woman
Fernand Khnopff

Jezebel
Jezebel
John Byam Liston Shaw
Jezebel has come to be known as an archetype of the wicked woman.

Goblin Market
Goblin Market
Emma Florence Harrison
An illustration to Christina Rossetti's poem 'Goblin Market'.

Calm Sea
Calm Sea
Arnold Böcklin

Cassandra
Cassandra
Evelyn Pickering De Morgan

Dream Land
Dream Land
Emma Florence Harrison
Possibly an illustration to Christina Rossetti's poem 'Dream Land'.

At the Golden Gate
At the Golden Gate
Valentine Cameron Prinsep

Athenais
Athenais
John William Godward

Bocca Baciata
Bocca Baciata
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
It bears an Italian quotation: 'The mouth that has been kissed loses not its freshness; still it renews itself as does the moon'.

The Holy Grail
The Holy Grail
Dante Gabriel Rossetti

La Ghirlandata
La Ghirlandata
Dante Gabriel Rossetti

A Vision of Fiammetta
A Vision of Fiammetta
Dante Gabriel Rossetti

La Belle Dame Sans Merci
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
Frank Cadogan Cowper

A Mermaid
A Mermaid
John William Waterhouse
This painting was Waterhouse's diploma work for the Royal Academy.

Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage
Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage
Edward Reginald Frampton

Falling Leaves
Falling Leaves
John Melhuish Strudwick

The Soul of the Rose
The Soul of the Rose
John William Waterhouse
And the soul of the rose went into my blood (from Tennyson's 'Maud').

Mary Magdalen in the Grotto
Mary Magdalen in the Grotto
Jules-Joseph Lefebvre

In the Grass
In the Grass
Arthur Hughes

Young Ladies Looking at Japanese Objects
Young Ladies Looking at Japanese Objects
James Jacques-Joseph Tissot

Dream Love
Dream Love
Emma Florence Harrison
An illustration to Christina Rossetti's poem 'Dream Love'.

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1/6/2009 5:56:54 PM nicoledesapio_nbdrt Great idea for an album! (And I like the title, too!) I too think red hair is beautiful and sometimes wish I had it myself. Certainly, the Victorians loved it; "auburn," they usually called it.
1/6/2009 5:59:20 PM nicoledesapio_nbdrt Also, the PSYCHE picture you include is one of my favorite Waterhouses; the model has truly copper-colored hair.
1/14/2009 3:55:28 AM Master of plants Thank You.
2/23/2009 9:49:50 AM Master of plants What about using hair colour?
2/24/2009 2:20:43 PM nicoledesapio_nbdrt Well, I have black hair and dark coloring, so red would not look right. But I do admire red hair in others.
2/25/2009 3:45:32 AM Master of plants Are You an gothic?