The photographs:
Idylls and Fancy Subjects
Julia Margaret CAMERON
British, 1815–79
The May Queen, 1875
From Idylls of the King and Other Poems, volume I, plate III
albumen silver photograph
35.0 x 45.0 cm
The Wilson Centre for Photography
96:5406:04
This is one of three illustrations that Cameron made from Tennyson's poem
The May Queen.
According to legend, the Queen of May is elected each year to
represent the spring rites of rebirth and purity. The young woman chosen must
be a virgin. Cameron depicts the May Queen with crossed hands and uplifted
eyes to indicate her chastity. She wears a hat that is pushed back on her
head creating a halo effect.
Cameron has inscribed the opening lines of
section three of Tennyson's poem on the mount underneath this photograph: 'So
now I think my time is near. I trust it is – I know'.
The sitter is Emily
Peacock who appears in many of the allegorical studies that Cameron made in
1874. Her sister, Mary Peacock, also appears in photographs taken around this
time.
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