Abstract

The late Victorian artist Evelyn De Morgan's paintings have been analyzed and interpreted through the lens of her many stylistic influences by past critics and current art historians. This thesis seeks to restore 19th-century Spiritualism as the central influence on the subject matter and style of De Morgan's paintings. This is particularly true of works concerned with the struggles of mortal life and the moment of death, based on her anonymously published text The Result of an Experiment. Victorian mourning rituals, Spiritualism, and the writings of Swedenborg served to draw out the specific Spiritualist symbols within De Morgan's paintings. A detailed analysis of six paintings concerned with the path of mortal life and death revealed De Morgan's Spiritualist beliefs about a hopeful death after her experiment with spirit communication.

Degree

College and Department

Humanities; Comparative Arts and Letters

Rights

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