In Alfred Tennyson's poem, the Lady of Shalott lives under a curse in a tower on an island. She may only see the world through a mirror and must weave what she sees into a tapestry. When she finally looks directly out of the window at the knight Lancelot, the mirror cracks — and the curse falls on her.

Waterhouse shows her drifting down the river toward Camelot in a boat, singing as she dies. Look at the three candles: two have already been blown out. The tapestry she spent her life making trails into the water beside her.

Painted in 1888, it became one of the most beloved pictures in Britain, and it's still one of the most popular postcards in the Tate's shop.