Under Her Favorite Bower’s Quiet Shade
A closer look at Edward Robert Hughes' 'The Princess out of School' and Tennyson's understanding of 19th-century science
“Yet what can be made of the bipartite title, given in a handwritten label on the back of the painting? “‘The Princess out of School’: under her favourite bower’s quiet shade. On her own couch, new made of flower leaves”?”
- Vivien Gaston, “New Made of Flower Leaves”: Nature, Evolution and Female Education in Edward Robert Hughes’s The Princess out of School”
The overall scene, featuring a young girl immersed in an idyllic meadow surrounded by almost early autumnal woodland scenery with a yellowing oak in the foreground—though the windflower-like appearance of the flowers may suggest otherwise—first captivates viewers. Then you notice the intricate details: the russets, gold threads, and the lime-colored bows adorning her muslin dress, her wood nymph-like hair, and you become fully entranced. You can’t help but wonder what microcosm she is intently observing below her and just out of our view. The peaceful stream below reflects her gently waving hair and the detailed foliage surrounding her, creating a moment of deep connection with nature. This perfectly embodies the Pre-Raphaelite movement, inspired by romantic literature, mythology, and a desire to find "truth in nature.”
In Vivien Gaston’s paper ‘New Made of Flower Leaves’: Nature, Evolution and Female Education in Edward Robert Hughes’s The Princess out of School, she points out the “heavy weight of literary reference” in this piece, a characteristic of his work that wasn’t always appreciated by the 19th-century art community. A critic from 1895 criticized Hughes for prioritizing literature over art, emphasizing storytelling that could be challenging to understand without proper context, stating “the common English excess of literature over art; enormous pains taken to tell a story which is entirely unintelligible unless one has the key” or as another critic stated about John Everett Millais’s Autumn Leaves, “a picture full of beauty and without subject” (Gaston 61). Personally, I greatly appreciate the meticulous attention to detail evident in his work, which I strive to emulate in my own creations. This meticulous approach extends to even the smallest aspects of a narrative or concept, perhaps explaining my ever-growing fascination with Pre-Raphaelite art. The Pre-Raphaelite concept allows for endless visual layers and details to explore from a single written line. Multiple artists can bring the same line from a poem to life in infinite ways, resulting in masterpieces like this one, Julia Margaret Cameron’s ethereal portrait series, and 'Oh, swallow, swallow' by John Melhuish Strudwick (1894), all of which are inspired by Tennyson’s The Princess: A Medley (1847).
The Princess out of School alludes to Lord Alfred Tennyson’s The Princess and John Keats’ Endymion, both of whom are celebrated on the PRB’s list of immortals. While the painting is known as The Princess out of School, handwritten on the back are two lines from Keats' Endymion that also accompanied the painting during its exhibition at the Royal Watercolour Society in 1818 in London:
“‘The Princess out of School’: under her favourite bower’s quiet shade. On her own couch, new made of flower leaves.”
Taken from this stanza:
“ . . . So she was gently glad to see him laid
Under her favourite bower's quiet shade,
On her own couch, new made of flower leaves,
Dried carefully on the cooler side of sheaves
When last the sun his autumn tresses shook,
And the tann'd harvesters rich armfuls took. . . .”John Keats, Endymion
Could this painting possibly depict Princess Ida observing nature, the main character in Tennyson's "The Princess," who prioritized education over marriage? Intriguingly, Gaston suggests a closeness in pose to figure on the right in the opera program for Princess Ida designed by Alice Mary Havers (Gaston 67).
“There leaning deep in broidered down we sank
Our elbows. On a tripod in the midst:
A fragrant flame rose, and before us glowed
Fruit, blossom, viand, amber wine, and gold.”Lord Alfred Tennyson, The Princess
Edward Robert Hughes’s uncle, Arthur Hughes, mastered painting these reclining Medieval styled figures that filled out the woodland floor scene, like in The Rift within the Lute. In this painting, a contemplative woman is depicted lying beside a stream, adorned in deep purple velvets, holding a lute and a bouquet of bluebells (Gaston 60).
“It is the little rift within the lute,
That by and by will make the music mute,
And ever widening slowly silence all.”Lord Alfred Tennyson, Merlin and Vivien (1859)
Also, in Endymion, inspired by John Keats’s Peona in his poem Endymion. A long but magical poem:
Going back to Tennyson’s influence on Edward Robert Hughes’ princess, I think it is important to note Tennyson’s profound admiration for the scientific progress and breakthroughs of the 19th-century. In Darwin, Tennyson and Their Readers, Rebecca Stott notes that Tennyson frequently poeticized new discoveries in his works as a way to reinterpret the “metaphysics of evolutionary speculation” (Stott 13), encouraging readers to view scientific advancement optimistically for a deeper understanding of the world.
“All nature widens upward. Evermore
The simpler essence lower lies,
More complex is more perfect, owing more
Discourse, more widely wise.”Tennyson, The Palace of Art
In the marble bust by William Couper named “Tennyson's Princess," Princess Ida emerges from tobacco leaves, a selection that may honor his home state, Virginia (Smithsonian American Art Museum). This choice to have her emerging from “her own couch, new made of flower leaves” may also symbolize Tennyson's advocacy for women's rights to education and the societal impact of Darwin's theory of evolution in the 1840s as Ida's retreated from societal norms to establish a women's university in the woods.
Specifically, I believe this bust may symbolize Ida’s last message to the prince and the audience, urging us to let go of the past and acknowledge inevitability of change, aspire to a future of equality, and accept the laws of nature. I found this significant to our deeper analysis of The Princess as it underscores her profound contemplation of nature. It's not merely a beautiful painting of a woman in nature that romanticizes the past. Instead, she is encouraging us to focus on what lies ahead:
‘But trim our sails, and let old bygones be,
While down the streams that float us each and all
To the issue, goes, like glittering bergs of ice,
Throne after throne, and molten on the waste
Becomes a cloud: for all things serve their time
Toward that great year of equal mights and rights,
Nor would I fight with iron laws, in the end
Found golden: let the past be past; let be
Their cancelled Babels: though the rough kex break
The starred mosaic, and the beard-blown goat
Hang on the shaft, and the wild figtree split
Their monstrous idols, care not while we hear
A trumpet in the distance pealing news
Of better, and Hope, a poising eagle, burns
Above the unrisen morrow:’
Additionally, I believe that by adding “out of School,” Hughes may be alluding to the growth of knowledge through nature rather than the academic setting.
With this presentation of these possible influences on Edward Robert Hughes, enjoy studying the details of The Princess out of School below. The keywords listed for this painting on the National Gallery of Victoria’s website are: cloaks, hair, meadows, princesses, women, meadows, and wooded landscapes. However, as I view this masterpiece now, I believe there are many more keywords that could be added.
Now that our walk through the idyllic woodland is nearly complete, the Edward Robert Hughes work has officially taken root in our garden of the Pre-Raphaelites. Be sure to subscribe and watch the growth of this section of the garden as we take a closer look at his other masterpieces.
What is your favorite detail in The Princess out of School?
Works Cited and Further Reading
National Gallery of Victoria. “The princess out of school.”
Gaston, Vivien. “‘New Made of Flower Leaves’: Nature, Evolution and Female Education in Edward Robert Hughes’s The Princess out of School.” Pre-Raphaelitism in Australasia (Part 2), vol. 26, no. 2, 2022.
Osborne, Victoria. “A British Symbolist in Pre-Raphaelite Circles: Edward Robert Hughes RWS (1851-1914).” M. Phil. thesis, University of Birmingham, 2009.
Stott, Rebecca. “Tennyson’s Drift: Evolution in The Princess.” In Darwin, Tennyson and Their Readers: Explorations in Victorian Literature and Science, edited by Valerie Purton, London, Anthem, 2013.
Such an incredible write up Jesse! I had no idea about the literary references, and I'd never seen the pencil/pen sketch before!! Her profile is one of my favourites and I've been so enamoured with her face I've almost sidelined all the wonderful floral detail you've pointed out, I'll have to come back and reread for a second/third time.