Victorian / late Pre-Raphaelite

Romeo and Juliet

Sir Frank Dicksee, 1884

Romeo and Juliet is an 1884 painting by Frank Dicksee of Shakespeare's lovers embracing on Juliet's balcony, Romeo about to leave. It belongs to Southampton City Art Gallery and is one of the best-known Victorian images of the play.

Artist: Sir Frank Dicksee
Date: 1884
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, United Kingdom
Movement: Victorian / late Pre-Raphaelite

What you are looking at

Juliet, in a loose white nightgown, stands on tiptoe with both arms around Romeo's neck, pulling his face down to hers. Romeo, in a crimson cloak, a dark embroidered doublet with gold trim and green hose, leans in to kiss her, one hand resting on her arm. A sword hangs at his hip. They stand on a stone balcony; at right a twisted marble column is wound with a climbing vine, and beyond the balustrade a pale strip of dawn sky shows through. At lower left, white lilies bloom in the shadow.

Dicksee contrasts the two figures. Juliet is all light, her white gown and pale skin catching the glow from the open sky; Romeo is dressed in the deep reds and greens of the picture's darker half. Their heads meet at the exact point where those two zones touch. The surface is highly finished, with crisp detail in the embroidery and the stone, in the manner the Royal Academy rewarded.

Which scene is it?

The painting is usually called the balcony scene, but the details point to Act 3, Scene 5: the lovers' parting at dawn after their wedding night, when Juliet insists that the bird they hear is the nightingale, not the lark. Romeo is dressed and armed for departure, the sky behind is pale, and the embrace is a farewell. Within hours Romeo will be banished to Mantua for killing Tybalt, and they will not see each other alive again.

The artist

Frank Dicksee (1853–1928) was a precocious Royal Academy painter, elected an Academician in 1891 and President in 1924. He specialized in romantic and literary subjects, influenced by the later Pre-Raphaelites and by Frederic Leighton. Shakespeare and medieval romance were his favorite sources; his La Belle Dame sans Merci and Chivalry show the same taste for armor, velvet and doomed love.

Meaning

Dicksee shows the tragedy at its most tender. The lilies, traditional emblems of purity, suit Juliet's innocence; the sword reminds the viewer of the violence that drives the plot. The kiss is passionate but restrained, and the Victorian audience knew exactly what would follow, which gives the picture its sadness.

Where to see it

The painting belongs to Southampton City Art Gallery in England. For other lovers in the catalogue, see Francesco Hayez's The Kiss and Fabián Pérez's The Embrace II; see also the Pre-Raphaelites.

Questions & answers

Where is Romeo and Juliet by Frank Dicksee?

The painting, dated 1884, belongs to Southampton City Art Gallery in Southampton, England. Painted when Dicksee was in his early thirties, it is one of the most widely reproduced Victorian images of Shakespeare's play and of its two young lovers.

What scene from Romeo and Juliet does Dicksee's painting show?

It is often called the balcony scene, but Romeo's cloak and sword and the dawn sky suggest Act 3, Scene 5, the lovers' farewell after their secret wedding night, just before Romeo must leave Verona for exile in Mantua after killing Tybalt.

Who was Frank Dicksee?

Sir Frank Dicksee (1853–1928) was a British painter of romantic, literary and historical subjects. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1891 and served as its President from 1924 until his death. He was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites and Frederic Leighton.

More by the artist

Sir Frank Dicksee

All works →

A red-haired woman in a pink gown leans down from a dark horse toward an armored knight who gazes up at her on a hillside at sunset — Frank Dicksee, La Belle Dame sans Merci, 1901 — La Belle Dame sans Merci
Sir Frank Dicksee · 1901

Kindred works

You may also study

A young man in a brown cloak and feathered hat kisses a woman in a shimmering pale-blue satin gown beside a stone staircase — Francesco Hayez, The Kiss, 1859 — The Kiss
Francesco Hayez · 1859

A dark-haired man and woman in black embrace with eyes closed, his hand spread across her back, against a black background — Fabián Pérez, The Embrace II — The Embrace II
Fabián Pérez

A woman in a white dress sits in a boat draped with a woven cloth, releasing its chain on a reedy river, three candles at the prow — John William Waterhouse, The Lady of Shalott, 1888 — The Lady of Shalott
John William Waterhouse · 1888

A pale green wooden footbridge arches across a pond crowded with white and pink water lilies, framed by dense green foliage — Claude Monet, Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies, 1899 — Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies
Claude Monet · 1899

An armless marble statue of a half-nude goddess with drapery slipping from her hips, her head turned to the side — Alexandros of Antioch, Venus de Milo, c. 150–125 BC, Louvre — Venus de Milo
Alexandros of Antioch · c. 150–125 BC

A green-patinated bronze of a nude man seated on a rock, chin resting on his hand, on a stone pedestal in a garden — Auguste Rodin, The Thinker, monumental cast of 1904, Musée Rodin, Paris — The Thinker
Auguste Rodin · Modeled 1880–82; enlarged 1902–03; this cast 1904

A reclining nude Adam stretches a limp hand toward the outstretched finger of God, who flies in a red cloak full of angels — Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, c. 1511–12 — The Creation of Adam
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A pale young woman in a silver dress floats on her back in a green stream, palms up and lips parted, as flowers drift from her hand — John Everett Millais, Ophelia, 1851–52 — Ophelia
John Everett Millais · 1851–52