Elaine, c.1862–1865 (oil on panel)

The subject of this painting was taken from the Arthurian legends, made popular by Tennyson's ‘Idylls of the King’, published in 1859. Elaine falls in love with Lancelot, but her love is unrequited. In the mid-Victorian period she was regarded as a figure of pathos, and was a popular subject for artists, especially women. Sandys produced at least three versions of this picture. The female subject from literature, shoulder length with the face turned to one side rather than straight towards the viewer, in mediaevalising costume and with a flat decorative background, has parallels with the work of other Pre-Raphaelite artists. The same leopardskin and the medievalising flat, decorative background can be found in other works by Emma Sandys. Such repetition of studio props and costumes is characteristic of both her and her brother, Frederick’s respective oeuvres.