''The Long Engagement'' is a painting by the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

artist Arthur Hughes which was created between 1854 and 1859. The painting was originally titled ''Orlando''. The painting depicts a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

and his

fiancée An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

in a woodland setting. The title refers to middle class social conventions of the time, in particular the fact that the parents of a woman engaged to a poorly paid curate would typically not allow the marriage until he had secured a more remunerative position – i.e. within the church hierarchy. The woman is depicted looking at her own name (Amy) carved, some while ago, into the trunk of the tree by her fiancé as an expression of his love. The carving, however, is about to be covered by rambling

ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

growing up the trunk; ethereal youthful passion is becoming lost to worldly capitalist demands. It can be said that this symbolism reflects the stark realities of late 1850s and 1860s Victorian England, which certainly is the observation made by English historian A. N. Wilson. In his book ''The Victorians'', Wilson makes the following observation and analysis of the significance of ''The Long Engagement'':

tdepicts an emotional predicament stemming directly from an economic situation. The prosperity which had created the vast bourgeoisie with its gradations from lower to upper middle class had also created a code. You could not marry, and maintain the position in society to which you aspired, until you had a certain amount of money in the bank.Wilson, A. N. (2003) ''The Victorians''. London: Arrow Books. p. 260. .

Hughes had finished an earlier painting, ''April Love'', of a similar theme. ''The Long Engagement'' was given to the

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local h ...

in the will of a "Dr Griffiths" in 1902, and has remained in the collection to present day.The Long Engagement by Arthur Hughes
at VictorianartinBritain.co.uk.

References

1859 paintings Paintings by Arthur Hughes Collections of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery {{19C-painting-stub