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Orlando Pursuing the Fata Morgana
StyleSymbolism
Artwork Details
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George Frederick Watts painted the allegorical scene inspired by Ariosto's epic poem "Orlando Furioso," showing the knight Orlando chasing the sorceress Fata Morgana (Morgan le Fay). The knight pursues a shimmering vision across a dreamlike landscape, his armor gleaming as he reaches toward an ever-receding goal.
Watts was one of Victorian England's most celebrated painters, known for symbolic and allegorical subjects that explored grand themes. His work influenced the Symbolist movement. This painting remains in a private collection, though Watts' studio home is preserved as the Watts Gallery in Surrey.
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About Orlando Pursuing the Fata Morgana
It shows a scene from Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso": the knight Orlando pursuing the sorceress Fata Morgana (Morgan le Fay), an allegory of chasing illusions.
Watts was a leading Victorian painter known for symbolic and allegorical subjects. His home is now the Watts Gallery in Surrey.
Watts worked in a Symbolist-influenced style, using mythological subjects to explore universal themes of human striving and illusion.
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