Pre-Raphaelite Paintings Depicting Women with "Yellow Hair"

Description: 

These are Pre-Raphaelite paintings by the artist Arthur Hughes. Porphyria's Lover and other works by Robert Browning are often thought to be the precursor and inspiration for the Pre-Raphaelite movement. There is some evidence to support that one of the most prominent founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Dante Rosetti was influenced by the works of Robert Browning. Dante Rosetti painted Robert Browning and a journal article published by The Princeton University Library details their friendship. These paintings feature women with "yellow hair" as Porphyria is described in line 20: "And spread, o'er all, her yellow hair". Porphyria's yellow hair is the focal point in this work because it serves both as a description of her femininity as well as the murder weapon. The narrator's choice to use Porphyria's own hair for his murder weapon demonstrates how the narrator weaves intimacy and violence together.

GRYLLS, ROSALIE GLYNN. “Rossetti and Browning.” The Princeton University Library Chronicle, vol. 33, no. 3, Princeton University Library, 1972, pp. 232–50, https://doi.org/10.2307/26409957.

Associated Place(s)

Artist: 

  • Arthur Hughes

Image Date: 

circa. 19th century