O master, do you love my tender rhyme 1913

This watercolour is by the English artist Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, who was born in 1872. Her career began in a period when women artists were challenging gendered expectations, yet they still faced barriers in the art world. Here, a woman in medieval dress presents something, perhaps a poem, to a seated man with long white hair. The man has his hand over his eyes, as if crying or in contemplation. The title of the piece invites a gendered reading, in which the woman's work is dependent on a man's approval. The lush pre-Raphaelite style, and focus on medieval subjects, evokes a nostalgic longing for a past era. Fortescue-Brickdale challenges traditional representations through her technical skill, while emotionally conveying the complexities of artistic validation and the nuances of creative exchange.