Part of your Soul ?

A longtime ago ..well all things are relative when you reach my age to be honest....
I went to the Walker Art Gallery ,at the time it was to see a particular painting D.G. Rossetti had done concerning Dante seeing Beatrice by chance in the street.

However what I have 'walked through the rest of my life with' (held to my soul so to speak) is a piece by George Fredrick Watts entitled Hope.

I have no idea why this painting should have such a 'hold' over me, but it does and that's that really. I stopped in my tracks when I saw it, it is only small compared to the other paintings in the room- and yet it called out to me ...my eyes could not turn away, I sat riveted soaking up the atmosphere of this simple but effective beyond belief work of art and yes it was burned into my soul from that day on.

The whole art of the the pre-Raphaelites with it's victorian melodrama (for surely that is how it fits in the scheme of things) is a strong pull for those searching for emotional escape from a reality that is found 'wanting' of love,desire and virtue.
At a tender age I embraced it as an alternative to a cruel world. I realize now that The symbolism movement is more based on reality and removes the sweet 'fantasy' of Ophelia to replace it with 'Harder' images that need to be drilled down into so that the reality you achieve is not what you first saw- 'reading the painting' is maybe how this could be described.

Anyway I digress Art is art but in my mind It's a desire to portray the world as you see it - and not for anybody else to question, for it is your vision.

Photosinferno.