Aubrey V. Beardsley’s “The Mysterious Garden Wall” was published in The Yellow Book in the fourth volume of the year 1895. Beardsley used the medium of white woven paper, black ink and graphite for the creation of this piece (JSTOR np). The illustration's focal point is the two central figures, a mystical male figure who whispers in the ear of a nude female. The male figure is depicted with winged feet, a visual element associated with Roman God Mercury, often depicted with “winged sandals” (Freedman 135). Beardsley’s illustration of Mercury is uncoloured which spotlights the stark contrast made by the lantern which he holds, visually manifesting his role as a messenger where he is “stationed at the crossroads (...) to serve as a guide” (Bowen 223). The lantern functions as a visual indicator of his guidance through the outskirts. The nude female body presents an outreached hand while receiving whispers from Mercury depicting her willingness to accept the summons of the god.
Works Cited
Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent. The Mysterious Rose Garden.1895, black ink and graphite on white wove paper. Harvard Art Museums; Department of Drawings; Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop. Harvard Art Museums. Artstor, JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.9934054. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent. The Mysterious Rose Garden. The Yellow Book, vol. 4, 1895, p. 270. Yellow Book Digital Edition, edited by Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, Ryerson University Centre for Digital Humanities, 2020. The Yellow Nineties 2.0, 2011–2014, https://1890s.ca/yb4-beardsley-rose-garden/.
Bowen, Barbara C. “Mercury at the Crossroads in Renaissance Emblems.” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, vol. 48, 1985, pp. 222–29. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/751217. Accessed 4 Dec. 2024.