Queen Eleanor
Frederick Sandys, 1858
Queen Eleanor is an oil-on-canvas work from 1858 by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Frederick Sandys. It shows Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of King Henry II of England, on her way to poison Rosamund Clifford, the king's mistress. The scene draws on a traditional legend in which Henry hid his affair deep inside an intricate maze. Eleanor made her way to the centre following a red cord, which the figure holds in her left hand, and gave her rival a choice between a dagger and a bowl of poison; Rosamund chose the poison and died. Sandys worked in the intense colour and meticulous detail typical of his circle, and the painting is now held by the National Museum Cardiff, which acquired it in 1981.
- Painter
- Frederick Sandys
- Date
- 1858
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 16 × 12 cm
- Museum
- National Museum Cardiff, Cardiff
- Genre
- portrait
