I’m sure we’ve probably all heard the famous rhyme, in which the day of your birth dictates your character. It’s a common form of birth folklore that many of us will find whimsical, at most. Monday’s child is fair of face,Tuesday’s child is full of grace,Wednesday’s child is full of woe,Thursday’s child has far to […]
Folklore
Lammas Lore: Harvests, Fairs, and Home Protection
1 August marks the festival of Lammas, or Lughnasadh, depending on your tradition. It’s a time of harvests, feasting, and giving thanks. The names are often used interchangeably. Though, as we shall see, there is some debate as to whether the two festivals are the same thing. Either way, you’ll find plenty of Lammas lore […]
Marianne Stokes: Folk Life and Fairy Tales in Victorian Art
We’ve been examining the links between folklore, mythology and art in the Victorian period over the last few posts. Yes, the Victorians have a lot to answer for more widely. Yet this was also a period in which mythology and folklore appeared a lot in art. Some artists used these myths to explore dangerous female […]
King Arthur and Folklore in the Art of Edward Burne-Jones
Victorian artists often drew on myths, legends, and fairy tales to fuel their work. They made great subject matter for commissions, a fact exploited to great effect by John William Waterhouse. Yet these stories also allowed artists to comment on their age in pictorial terms. The rewriting of a myth, or the choice of a […]
Evelyn De Morgan: Myths from a Female Perspective
When you think of mythology in Victorian art, you probably think of the nude water nymphs of John William Waterhouse. As we saw last week, his work draws heavily from myth and legend for its subject matter. Yet he was nowhere near being the only artist inspired by classical stories. Evelyn De Morgan was another […]
Blending Folklore and Art in the work of John William Waterhouse
Whenever you go looking for artworks to illustrate articles about folklore and mythology, one name keeps popping up. That’s Victorian artist, John William Waterhouse. He used many myths and legends to inspire his work, including the literary varieties available via the Romantic poets. In this article, let’s explore the link between folklore and art within […]
