''Found Drowned'' is an oil painting by George Frederic Watts, c. 1850, inspired by Thomas Hood's 1844 poem ''

The Bridge of Sighs The Bridge of Sighs (Italian: ''Ponte dei Sospiri'', vec, Ponte de i Sospiri) is a bridge in Venice, Italy. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Priso ...

''. The painting depicts the dead body of a woman washed up beneath the arch of Waterloo Bridge, with her lower body still immersed in the water of the River Thames. She is presumed to have drowned after having thrown herself in the river in despair to escape the shame of being a " fallen woman". The grey industrial cityscape of the south bank of the Thames is barely visible in the background through thick

smog Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and '' fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odor. The word was then inte ...

. Dressed simply, perhaps a servant, her arms and body form the shape of a cross, much remeniscent of the crucifixion of Christ. She holds a locket and chain in one hand, indicating her attachment to her lover; a single star is visible as a sign of hope in the sky above. It is one of four large social realist paintings made by Watts in 1848–50, created soon after he had returned to England from an extended period in Italy, all on melancholy themes. The others are '' Under the Dry Arch'', '' The Irish Famine'', and '' Song of the Shirt'' (after Hood's poem " The Song of the Shirt"; this painting is also known as ''The Seamstress''). Several other artists were inspired by Hood's poem ''The Bridge of Sighs''. Examples of similar works include Rossetti's '' Found'' and Abraham Solomon's '' Drowned! Drowned!''. The scene is echoed in the third painting of Augustus Egg's 1858 series, '' Past and Present''. Watts quickly abandoned his dalliance with social realism, and returned to allegorical themes. He never sold his four social realist paintings, which were first exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1881–82 and are now all held by the Watts Gallery in

Compton Compton may refer to: Places Canada * Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district * Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton * Compton, Que ...

, near

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

in Surrey.

References

''Found Drowned'', Watts Gallery
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Found Drowned 1850 paintings Paintings about death Paintings by George Frederic Watts Paintings in South East England Water in art London in art