Lilly's Metaphor
LILLY MARTIN SPENCER’S WE BOTH MUST FADE (1869)
Seems to be representing a beautiful metaphor. The first icon I noticed was the flower in the right hand, drooping toward the ground. The flower is dying. Then, my eyes saw the subject’s eyes looking off into the distance. When I looked to see where, I found the mirror to the left. As she is looking at herself with all her glamorous jewelry and her beautiful dress on, I put together the title’s suggestion. That beauty doesn’t last forever, nor does life.
This piece is engaging. The vibrant blue in her dress contrasts the rich, warm colors around her. Her dress is accented with much lace and the painting offers a slew of detail in that region. She has much jewelry to her left and, as I mentioned, a dying flower in right hand. It’s a curious parallel though. The beautiful flower being compared to her youthful beauty (and glow, as she lights up in this photo) makes sense. However, the aspect of her beauty being found in jewelry and an unnatural dress, in contrast with a naturally beautiful flower is peculiar. At this point I felt there was more to this metaphor than meets the eye.
The vase of flourishing flowers on her left may be paralleling the fake timepieces which add beauty to her exterior. By this I mean that, altogether, when the flowers are embellishing and complimenting each other they flourish. Just as when a women puts on jewelry and fancy dresses with beautiful vibrant colors, society promotes that she is flourishing with beauty when she makes herself up in this way. However, on the other hand when she is stripped of this excess (the jewelry clothes etc) she is simply as the flower is, drooping and dying. We can see this parallel in the way she droops her chin toward the ground. She is also looking at herself in the mirror. I’ve always seen my moments with a mirror as the most revealing of my confidence and character as I see a reflection of what my mind tells me to see when I look at my body. Therefore, the left side of this image contrasts the right. The left unveils the women and represents the looming fade. There is also a statue-light next to the mirror. Lilly has the silhouette of this piece being reflected faintly by the mirror. This statue is more bare and revealing then the subject herself. This side is stripping her of the excess. While the right side is representing the embellishment keeping her beauty alive until she does fade.
This is what I saw in this piece, however I feel there are other directions this representation could go in someone’s mind. Whether or not this was the artists intention is far from my reach, but I feel that it is a touching and stripping piece. It is also very suggestive of a universal subject: beauty. Beauty and life may change but the way individuals respond to it probably never will. That makes this piece very powerful.