Legend has it that in 1176 Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II of England, poisoned ‘Fair’ Rosamund Clifford, the king’s beautiful mistress and true love.
Henry had created a secret garden for Rosamund at Woodstock, a Royal estate in Oxfordshire, accessible only via a maze.
Arthur Hughes (British Pre-Raphaelite painter, 1832-1915) has painted the moment when Eleanor, seen lurking in the background, discovers the entrance to the garden, gaining the opportunity to commit murder.