Edward John Poynter - Study of a female nude seated on a marble ledge

black chalk heightened with white chalk on grey paper
13 x 9½ in.

The present drawing is a study for Hermia and Helena (1901), Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy.

The painting depicts a scene from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III, scene II, Helena feels that Lysander, Demetrius, and Hermia have ganged up to mock and humiliate her. She chides Hermia and reminds her of the close relationship they have always shared.

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