This is the only completed easel painting that William Morris produced. It is a portrait in medieval dress of Jane Burden. The picture is intended to represent Iseult mourning Tristram's exile from the court of King Mark. Iseult appears to have recently arisen from her bed, where a small greyhound lies curled up among the crumpled sheets. 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. 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.
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