Isabella and the Pot of Basil Painting by William Holman Hunt

The painting above was painted in 1868 by William Holman Hunt of Isabella holding onto the basil pot containing her lover Lorenzo’s head. Hunt began to work on the illustration of Isabella in 1848. This drawing showed a very different scene then presented in the poem. In 1866, Hunt reread the poem “Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil,” and he had a new idea on how to illustrate Isabella. Hunt’s wife died soon after his return to painting Isabella, and the years after were dedicated to painting her. Finally, Hunt returned once more to the painting and finished it in January of 1868. Hunt wanted to portray Isabella unable to sleep, so she held onto her basil pot for comfort. This painting of Isabella was to reflect Keats words of “hung over her sweet Basil evermore, and moistened it with tears unto the core.” In my opinion I believe that William Holman Hunt did a wonderful job of bringing Isabella and her emotions to life.
John Keats poetry often inspired artists to create a painting of a scene they visualize. Many of Keats poems were appealing to artists and illustrators mainly in the 1840’s to the 1930’s. Paintings were especially inspired from Keats poems, “Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil,” “Endymion,” and “The Eve of St. Agnes.” These poems had very vivid imagery and also inspired imagination. Keats poetry allows images to from in ones head, and to feel the emotions of the poems. Sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste are often incorporated into Keats poems. Since Keats poems have such imagery, artists are drawn to the imagination of making those senses come to life. Keats also wrote about artists in his poetry which made them grow fond of him. So, Keats became commonly know in the artist world, which also increased the amount of paintings made based on his poems. A biography was published about John Keats in 1848 which increased the general interest of his poetry. Soon after Keats became one of England’s greatest poets. All of these factors increased the likely hood of one of John Keats poems to be painted.