Pre-Raphaelites Painting Shakespeare’s Women

Iconic signs such as paintings, engravings or book illustrations come into existence as a result of visual attempts at redefining the literary text to which they refer. Although they belong to a different medium, they are always conditioned and influenced by the original literary work. English painting displays a series of famous images which explicitly have their roots in literary texts. While the works of Shakespeare, Keats and Tennyson seem to determine a special connection with painting, Shakespeare’s plays are the source of one of the most inspiring subjects of the Pre-Raphaelite painters: women.