Inspired by alfred lord tennysons lyrical ballad of the same name john waterhouses the lady of shalott painting portrays the lamenting woman whose unrequited love for sir lancelot brought about a curse which led to her death the moment depicted occurs in the fourth stanza of tennysons poem when at the closing of the dayshe loosed the chain and down she laythe broad stream bore her far awayclick these words to find similar prints18th 19th century pre raphaelite figurative myth