The billowing rich silks of Romeo's red costume suggest the fire of his love, while Juliet glows like an icon in gold. Madox Brown conveys the passion and distress of the moment in the lovers' intertwined bodies. In this painting of the scene following the night that the young newlyweds have just spent together in secret, Romeo, burying a last kiss in Juliet's neck, gestures urgently with his left hand to show her that he must leave before they are discovered by her mother Lady Capulet. The Pre-Raphaelites created a list of 'Immortals' and placed Shakespeare among them. Spurning the conventions of academy art teaching they used brilliant colour to celebrate the historic past, glorifying nature and placing an emphasis on emotion and subjectivity which reflected the concurrent Romantic movement in literature and art. Ford Madox Brown (1821–1893) shared the aims of the Pre-Raphaelite painters who rejected the rapid industrialisation of their world and revered the early Renaissance ideal of beauty. While some artists have been drawn to the tragedy of the story, in the nineteenth century artists were swept away by the romance. Here we look at what artists on Art UK have made of this timeless tale.įord Madox Brown (1821–1893) The Whitworth, The University of Manchester As the success of the recent film of Romeo and Juliet from the National Theatre in London demonstrates, the story of the 'star-cross'd lovers' retains its powerful influence today.

The play has inspired art in all forms, from the musical West Side Story to Dire Straits' classic hit Romeo and Juliet, and Malorie Blackman's novel Noughts and Crosses. By contrast, in Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the headstrong young lovers refuse to accept the separation caused by their warring families, and are impelled along a path which ultimately leads to their deaths. This year, in particular, the lovelorn have endured long periods of separation while they wait to be reunited. This falls in springtime when, according to the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson 'a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.' As we are unsure of the date of William Shakespeare's birthday, it is traditionally celebrated around 23rd April, ironically the date of his death.

What does star crossed lovers mean