Unit 187 Part A

14 So it's another example of what we were talking about earlier –
15 the link between the romantic movement in literature and the movements in art.
16 In the painting, the artist imagines the King sitting at the girl's feet, gazing at her in adoration.
17 The setting has echoes of 15th century Italian art, particularly Mantegna and Crivelli,
18 and it's all elaborately decorated with highly wrought textures and jewel-like colours.
19 If you look at the clothing you can see what I mean.
20 The two characters in the background have got these rich flowing clothes,
21 and there's the same richness in the King's flowing cloak.
22 The flowers are a symbol of unrequited love,
23 and there's a lot of personal feeling in this painting, as there is in much of his work.
24 To the general public it would have had a completely different meaning,
25 which they would have recognised quite easily.