Luna is draped in the moon’s seat, her body moulding to the thin crescent. An expanse of soft, radiant skin reflects the moon’s glow, emitting light as brightly as the moon itself. Ropes twist around her figure tying her to her role of Moon Goddess: the puppet-master of fate, pulling the strings and controlling life on the ground below her. The ropes also bind Luna to the moon, loosely as though she might escape. Here, Evelyn shows her rejection of the patriarchal Victorian pseudo-science that aligned women’s menstrual cycles with the moon’s cycle, dictating women’s place in the home as ‘natural’. Luna connects women with the moon’s strength, presenting them as powerful goddesses. Suspended among the soft clouds, above the mountainous landscape, Evelyn depicts Luna turning away with ease and majesty, drooping into the curve of the moon exhibiting a dreamlike energy.
1885
Oil on canvas
P_EDM_0053
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Luna
Decoration or Devotion: William and Evelyn De Morgan
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