when SLife imitates Art

Heard a carol, mournful, holy,

Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,

Till her blood was frozen slowly,

And her eyes were darken'd wholly,

Turn'd to tower'd Camelot.

For ere she reach'd upon the tide

The first house by the water-side,

Singing in her song she died,

The Lady of Shalott.

-Tennyson, 1832

The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse, 1888

I was going through some of my art books recently and I came across a picture of The Scream by Edward Munch.  I started wondering if I could duplicate that image with pixels and that led to more ideas of how I could reinterpret other paintings in SL.

I used to live in a city that had one of the best museums in the country (well, besides the Louvre, it probably is one of the best in the world).  Whenever I was uninspired or sad I would go to this museum and be instantly transformed.  It made me happy to see so many paintings, sculptures, textiles, costumes all in one place.  Needless to say, I went to this museum a lot!

The Lady of Shalott painting and poem (see top image) is inspired by Elaine of Astolot.  Tennyson's poem (see above) speaks of a woman who is cursed and lives in isolation in a tower.  She cannot look anyone in the eye, her only companion being her own reflection in the mirror.  However, she cannot resist the beauty of Lancelot and so she travels by boat to see him.  In the painting by Waterhouse she is chained down in the boat.  Unfortunately she dies before she can express her love to Lancelot.

Google has this program called Google Art Project where you can view many famous works of art from museums around the world.  You can also take virtual tours of museums.  I think it's quite cool but I'm definitely an art nerd.  Check it out and tell me what you think.

Credits
note:  I absolutely love the new Umbrella Boats from Lisp.  You can find them at Collabor88 this month.
skirt and top:  Sn@tch, Catalina Doll-New
skin:  Illusory, Collabor88, Love Milk Frenchie-New
chains:  ..:DeliciouS:.., Heartache
hair:  Wasabi Pills, Coco-New
nails:  *Rezlpsa Loc* for Wear Gray for A Day, Pastel French Nails (Gatcha) through April 22-New
umbrella:  Lisp, Collabor88-New