Saturday, March 14, 2009

John Everett Millais - Speak! Speak!


1895
oil on canvas

6 comments:

Lucy Corrander said...

!

Yes, Hermes, speak! What is this about?

Lucy

Hermes said...

It is supposed to be the dead man's wife wearing her wedding dress trying to induce him to join her 'on the other side'. A fairly popular theme when Spiritualism was becoming very popular.

Lucy Corrander said...

That's interesting because it's not that I object to beards (re. another comment) - just that Holman Hunt's looks too much like ectoplasm.

Lucy

Hermes said...

Thanks Lucy,

I saw ectoplasm once and it didn't remind me of a beard but I was probably a bit startled at the time!

Lucy Corrander said...

What!

That's extraordinary.

Are you prepared to say more about the circumstances?

Lucy

Hermes said...

Not much to say really Lucy. Before I became disabled I did some work as a Healer and had several friends who were very into physical mediumship. I'm still not entirely convinced by trance states but I did see and hear some odd things including just the once ectoplasm. It didn't form into anything and didn't last long but still rather surprising.