The Lady of Shalott

John William Waterhouse 1849–1917

The Lady of Shalott (1888) by John William Waterhouse. Its palette is led by charcoal (#1d1f1d, 36%) and dark reddish brown (#503f37, 23%), with accents of light amber and ivory. Overall the canvas is dark, muted and warm.

Color reading

Black and brown cover nearly nine-tenths of the canvas. Its most vivid color, light amber #AF9268, takes up 8% of it.

Palette

#1d1f1d MG 222 charcoal 35.6% of canvas
#503f37 MG 155 dark reddish brown 23.3% of canvas
#675544 MG 167 brown 17.3% of canvas
#040403 MG 224 black 12.4% of canvas
#af9268 MG 033 light amber 8.0% of canvas
#f9f4e0 MG 200 ivory 3.3% of canvas

Color families

Black 45%, Brown 41%, Gray 8%, White 2%, Yellow 2%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.35
Contrast: 0.63
Vividness: 0.022
Warmth: +1.00
Complexity: 202 cells
Hue range: 0.45
Focus: 0.16

Composition

56% of the visual weight is in the left half, 63% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.05 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 12% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 29% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1888
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 153.0 × 200.0 cm
Genre: Arthurian painting
Collection: Tate, London

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More by John William Waterhouse

Hylas and the Nymphs, 1896
Echo and Narcissus, 1903