L'Allegro
Artist: William Edward Frost (English, 1810-77)
Date: 1848
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Royal Collection Trust, London, United Kingdom
Description
The subject of the painting is taken from John Milton’s pastoral poem L’Allegro (The Happy Man), published in 1645. A contemporary noted that the three pictures Frost had painted for the Queen had ‘their origin from the three great poets of England. Spenser, Milton and Shakespeare’. The Three Graces from Greek mythology are led in dance by the nymph Euphrosyne, who personifies joy or mirth, playing a tambourine. She is accompanied by her sisters, Aglaia representing elegance and Thalia, embodying youth and beauty.














