The overlooked masterpiece full of coded messages about World War One

The overlooked masterpiece full of coded messages about World War One 24 April 2025 Share Save Deborah Nicholls-Lee Share Save Trustees of the De Morgan Foundation (Credit: Trustees of the De Morgan Foundation) Esoteric and pioneering, the paintings of a lesser-known Pre-Raphaelite, Evelyn De Morgan, explored the trauma and meaning of war – and prefigured current fantasy art. On a rocky beach that glows red with lava, smoke-breathing dragons surround wretched-looking prisoners beseeching an angel to deliver them from suffering. The oil painting Death of the Dragon by Evelyn De Morgan looks at first like a scene from the New Testament's apocalyptic Book of Revelation. But, painted between 1914 and 1918, it's also something more personal and critical: an allegory for the misery and bondage of World War One, and the confrontation between good and evil. The spectacular painting, measuring more than a metre high, is one of the highlights of a new exhibition, Evelyn De Morgan: The Moder ... Read full article.