Lorenzo and Isabella by John Everett Millais Photo Print

Sir John Everett Millais - Lorenzo and Isabella, 1849. Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, PRA (1829-1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The painting illustrates an episode from Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron novel Lisabetta e il testo di bassilico (1349 - 1353), reprised by John Keats's poem, Isabella, or the Pot of Basil, which describes the relationship between Isabella, the sister of wealthy mediaeval merchants, and Lorenzo, an employee of Isabella's brothers. It depicts the moment at which Isabella's brothers realise that there is a romance between the two young people, and plot to murder Lorenzo so they can marry Isabella to a wealthy nobleman. Isabella, wearing grey at the right, is being handed a blood orange on a plate by the doomed Lorenzo. A cut blood orange is symbolic of the neck of someone who has just been decapitated, referring to Isabella cutting off Lorenzo's head to take it with her after finding him buried. One of her brothers violently kicks a frightened dog while cracking a nut.