Consulting the Oracle

Consulting the Oracle is an oil on canvas painting by John William Waterhouse.Waterhouse painted it in 1884; according to Anthony Hobson, "The Illustrated London News described it as one of the principal works of the year".Hobson describes the work as having a "keyhole composition" because a partial ring of women focus upon a single other (the priestess).[2] Hobson goes on to say that the painting helps "to establish Waterhouse as a classical painter" because of his use of "classical, geometrical structures...the vertical, the horizontal and the circle".When he adds the diagonal, as "in the inclined figure of the priestess" and the out-of-place rug, it is a deliberately added tension.
John William WaterhouseTate Galleryoil on canvasThe Illustrated London NewsList of paintings by John William WaterhouseList of paintingsSleep and His Half-Brother DeathThe Favourites of the Emperor HonoriusSaint EulaliaThe Magic CircleThe Lady of ShalottCirce Offering the Cup to UlyssesUlysses and the SirensCirce InvidiosaThe Lady of Shalott Looking at LancelotOpheliaHylas and the NymphsPandoraMariana in the SouthThe SirenThe Crystal BallBoreasEcho and NarcissusJason and MedeaGather Ye Rosebuds While Ye MayThe SorceressI Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of ShalottEsther Kenworthy WaterhousePre-Raphaelite Brotherhood