The Shadow (painting)

Common card · No. 444503

The Shadow (c. 1909) is a painting by Edmund Blair Leighton. The Shadow is based upon the Greek myth of Butades; a Corinthian maiden drew the outline of her beloved's shadow cast by the light of a lamp the night before he departed for war. Leighton retold the story in the style of the romanticised Middle Ages, reflecting the concept of courtly love by changing the setting to the battlements of a medieval castle and the morning of (instead of the night before) the man's departure, shown by the ship waiting in the background. The hair colour of the maiden is not inconsequential or unintentional. While red hair has historically had negative associations, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which Leighton was associated with, frequently depicted red-heads in a positive light to further the intentions of their art movement. By the Victorian era, auburn hair was touted as much as blonde hair, a standard of beauty that would have influenced Leighton to depict the medieval maiden as ginger. As for...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Edmund Blair Leighton, Public domain