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Ferdinand Lured by Ariel

Ferdinand Lured by Ariel is an 1850 painting by John Everett Millais which depicts an episode from Act I, Scene II of Shakespeare's c. 1611 play The Tempest. It illustrates Ferdinand's lines "Where should this music be? i' the air or the earth?". He is listening to Ariel singing the lyric "Full fathom five thy father lies". Ariel is tipping Ferdinand's hat from his head, while Ferdinand holds on to its string and strains to hear the song. Ferdinand looks straight at Ariel, but the latter is invisible to him.

The painting was Millais' first attempt at the plein air Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood style, which he did at Shotover Park near Oxford. He wrote to his close friend and Pre-Raphaelite collea...

1850
Oil on canvas
65.0 x 51.0cm
Q777080
Image and text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023