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Introduction
Evelyn De Morgan’s The Field of the Slain presents a haunting vision of war’s aftermath through the lens of myth and symbolism. In this monumental work, an ethereal figure—winged, robed in swirling twilight hues—stands upon a landscape strewn with the fallen. Her mantle envelops dozens of ghostly visages, each a testament to lives extinguished; in her hand she cradles a wounded head, while her downcast gaze conveys both sorrow and solemn duty. Painted at the close of the nineteenth century, this allegorical tableau transcends any specific conflict to become a universal meditation on sacrifice, loss, and the spiritual dimension of warfare. De Morgan’s fusion of Pre‑Raphaelite attention to detail, Symbolist evocation of the numinous, and feminist reinterpretation of classical archetypes yields a work of compelling emotional and philosophical depth. In what follows, we will explore the painting’s historical resonance, its compositional ingenuity, its chromatic strategies, its rich iconography, and the technical mastery that underpins De Morgan’s powerful vision.
Historical Context
By the 1890s, Evelyn De Morgan had established herself as a painter deeply engaged with moral and metaphysical questions. Influenced by the Pre‑Raphaelite Brotherhood’s luminous colorism and John Roddam Spencer Stanhope’s classical formalism, she also absorbed Symbolist currents emanating from continental Europe. The era’s geopolitical tensions—colonial wars, nationalistic rivalries, and rising militarism—cast long shadows over the cultural imagination. While De Morgan avoided topical reportage, she channeled contemporary anxieties into mythic forms, drawing upon Norse and Greco‑Roman motifs to articulate the spiritual dimensions of combat and mourning. The Field of the Slain can thus be seen as part of a broader fin‑de‑siècle artistic turn toward allegory and introspection, as well as an early feminist critique of war’s cost to both men and women.
Composition and Spatial Structure
The Field of the Slain is organized around a towering vertical axis defined by the central figure—a psychopomp or Valkyrie—as she surveys the devastation below. The canvas is divided into three primary registers: the corpses scattered across the barren field at bottom, the figure’s voluminous drapery and cascading heads in the middle, and the pale sky and distant mountains above. De Morgan orchestrates a dramatic interplay of curves and diagonals: the figure’s sweeping mantle curves outward to each side, while her tilted head and outstretched arm form a gentle diagonal that guides the viewer’s eye from the right (where the slain lie) up into the swirling fabric of faces. The horizontal horizon line of the battlefield echoes the narrow ledge upon which she stands, grounding her supernatural presence in a tangible landscape. This careful calibration of vertical grandeur and horizontal expanse creates a dynamic tension between stillness and movement, heightening the painting’s emotional impact.
Use of Color and Light
De Morgan’s palette in The Field of the Slain is at once subdued and radiant. Earthy browns and ochres dominate the lower register, rendering the corpse‑strewn field with a muted realism. The central figure’s robes, however, shift through tones of dusky green, slate gray, and deep crimson, each hue modulated by thin, glistening glazes that suggest both tangible fabric and otherworldly mist. Her wings—rendered in feather‑like strokes of umber and burnished bronze—catch the light of an unseen source, outlining her silhouette against the pale sky. The uppermost section of the canvas transitions to a cool, luminescent dawn: pale blues and pinks suffuse the distant hills, symbolizing hope and renewal beyond the immediate horrors of mortality. De Morgan’s layering of warm lower tones against cool upper tones not only distinguishes earthly suffering from divine transcendence but also reinforces the painting’s allegorical journey from death toward spiritual awakening.
The Central Figure: Psychopomp and Valkyrie
At the heart of The Field of the Slain stands the figure of the psychopomp—a guide of souls drawn from various mythologies. De Morgan’s portrayal merges attributes of the Valkyrie (chooser of the slain in Norse myth) with the classical Hermetic guide, emphasizing her dual role as both warrior emissary and merciful mourner. Clad in drapery that falls in intricate folds, she exudes an austere dignity rather than martial bravado. Her head is encircled by a faint halo, signaling her divine vocation. The gentle tilt of her eyelids and the soft curve of her lips convey empathy: she is neither triumphant nor detached, but enfolds each lost life in solemn recognition. The mantle she holds collects the faces of the fallen as if collecting their souls, cradling them in a tapestry of memory. By humanizing this mythic figure—attending both to her epic scale and her intimate connection to individual fates—De Morgan forges a bridge between the cosmic and the personal.
Iconography and Symbolic Layers
Every element in The Field of the Slain contributes to its layered meaning. The severed heads in the figure’s robe stand in for the departed souls, their varied expressions capturing moments of fear, resignation, or serene acceptance. Some look upward, as though greeting the psychopomp; others avert their gaze, consumed by the shock of violence. The bodies sprawled on the ground—a mix of helmeted warriors and unarmed figures—underscore that war’s victims include the innocent as well as the combatant. Scattered weapons and shields, half‑buried in dust, symbolize the futility of violence in the face of mortality. The barren earth, cracked and fissured, suggests a land ravaged not only by battle but by grief. Yet in the distance, a faint glow on the horizon hints at the possibility of redemption—an allusion to sunrise and the renewal of the soul. Through these interlocking symbols, De Morgan invites viewers to contemplate the ethical and spiritual dimensions of collective sacrifice.
Emotional Resonance and Viewer Engagement
The Field of the Slain evokes a profound emotional response through its juxtaposition of epic scope and intimate detail. The scale of the painting—often exhibited at a size that nearly envelops the viewer’s field of vision—immerses the spectator in the psychopomp’s solemn vigil. The muted, earthy colors of the slain field draw one’s gaze downward, fostering a sense of weight and gravity, while the figure’s elevated posture and luminous aura draw the eye upward, offering a glimpse of transcendence. Observers are compelled to witness both the horror of death and the compassion of the divine intermediary. The repeated motif of faces creates a chorus of voices—each individual yet collectively unified—that speaks to the universality of suffering and the shared human fate. De Morgan’s balanced pacing of detail—meticulous in the rendering of each visage, yet broad in the sweeping arcs of drapery—keeps the viewer engaged across the canvas, prompting both intellectual reflection and emotional catharsis.
Technical Mastery and Brushwork
A close look at The Field of the Slain reveals De Morgan’s consummate blend of Pre‑Raphaelite finish and Symbolist atmosphere. The corpses and terrain exhibit fine, stippled textures that capture the gritty reality of the battlefield, achieved through layered brushwork and subtle tonal variations. In contrast, the central figure’s robes and wings are built from longer, fluid strokes, imparting a sense of motion and ethereality. De Morgan applied multiple translucent glazes—thin layers of paint that allow underlying colors to shimmer through—creating a luminous depth in the drapery and the halo around the psychopomp’s head. Tiny impasto highlights on the eyes and lips of the fallen heads lend them startling immediacy, while the distant hills are rendered with a softer touch to evoke atmospheric perspective. This alternation between precise detail and painterly diffusion embodies the painting’s thematic dualities: the rawness of death and the refinement of spiritual consolation.
Feminist Reinterpretation of Myth
In depicting the psychopomp as a resolute female figure, De Morgan engages in an early feminist reimagining of traditionally male‑dominated mythic roles. By positioning a woman at the moment of judgment and passage, she challenges patriarchal assumptions about agency in the realms of war and death. The painting suggests that women, often relegated to the margins of martial narratives, possess both the authority to confront war’s aftermath and the compassion to shepherd the fallen toward peace. De Morgan’s choice to humanize the psychopomp—eschewing martial armor in favor of solemn robes—underscores a feminine ethos of care rather than conquest. This alignment of women with moral stewardship and spiritual guidance resonates with De Morgan’s broader advocacy for women’s suffrage and social reform.
Theological and Philosophical Dimensions
The Field of the Slain transcends its mythic surface to propose a philosophical meditation on mortality and transcendence. The presence of the psychopomp—an intermediary between the earthly and the divine—draws upon Neoplatonic and Hermetic traditions that view death not as annihilation but as transformation. The swirling cloak of heads can be read as a metaphor for the soul’s ascent, each face moving from the darkness of the field toward the light of the sky. The painting’s composition echoes the ascent of purgatorial souls in medieval Christian art, yet De Morgan universalizes this journey beyond any single religious framework. The contrast between the cracked earth below and the radiant dawn above suggests that suffering and redemption are inseparable facets of existence. In this way, the work resonates as a visual sermon: lamentation is necessary, but hope endures.
Legacy and Influence
Although Evelyn De Morgan’s reputation waned in the mid‑twentieth century, recent scholarship and exhibitions have restored her status as a pioneering moral allegorist and feminist artist. The Field of the Slain stands among her most ambitious forays into epic subject matter, demonstrating her capacity to tackle themes of war, mortality, and spiritual agency with equal technical skill and emotional nuance. The painting influenced later Symbolist and Art Nouveau artists who sought to reconcile beauty with moral seriousness. In contemporary times, its relevance endures amid renewed global debates about the human cost of conflict. Institutions such as the De Morgan Foundation continue to showcase this work as a testament to its enduring power to move and instruct viewers across generations.
Conclusion
In The Field of the Slain, Evelyn De Morgan achieves a masterful synthesis of mythic grandeur, human tragedy, and spiritual consolation. Through her meticulous composition, luminous chromatic layering, and layered symbolism, she transforms a battlefield into a stage for the universal drama of life, death, and redemption. The central psychopomp, both majestic and compassionate, embodies the hope that even amid the carnage of war, individual souls are neither forgotten nor abandoned. De Morgan’s technical virtuosity—her glazing, her nuanced brushwork, and her balancing of detail and atmosphere—serves a profound moral vision: to honor the sacrifice of the fallen and to beckon the living toward empathy and transcendence. The Field of the Slain remains a compelling invitation to bear witness, to mourn, and ultimately to believe in the possibility of spiritual renewal beyond suffering.