Medea, Frederick Sandys

Link is to zoomable version on the Google Art Project; high-resolution downloadable file on Wikimedia Commons; original is in the Birmingham Museum.

The painting was kept from public view, though accepted to the Royal Academy exhibition of 1868, because it was thought to be unacceptably in bad taste, largely due to the story of the mythical sorceress to which it refers.

It was later accepted for view and considered by many to be Frederick Sandys’ masterpiece.

See the commentary on the Birmingham Museum page for more details on the painting, its background and symbolism.