'Love's Palace', John Melhuish Strudwick

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The first of the three paintings commissioned directly from the artist by Holt in his last years. The subject, suggested by Strudwick, is based on lines from a poem by GF Bodley, who was also a well-known architect.

Love sits enthroned in the centre, with the Fates at the base of the steps. Girls watch a bubble floating in the air (a symbol of vanity and hope), listen to sweet music, and learn about love from the pages of a book. In the background knights ride by, on one side embodying the joys of love, on the other its sorrows.