Juliet

Juliet by Leslie depicts Shakespeare’s most famous heroine, a subject that allowed the painter to combine his deep knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays with his gift for rendering beautiful young women. Leslie’s literary paintings were enormously popular in Victorian England, where Shakespeare enjoyed quasi-religious cultural status. Romanticism (c.1800–1850) privileged emotion, imagination, and the sublime over classical reason. Romanticism embraced a wider range of subjects than any previous movement, from medieval legend to contemporary politics, from sublime landscape to intimate genre scenes, united by emotional intensity rather than formal type.

Leslie renders the young heroine with romantic sensitivity and careful attention to Renaissance-style costume. His warm palette and soft handling create an attractive image of youthful love.