The painting was done by Edwin Romanzo Elmer shortly after his daughter, Effie, died of appendicitis. The overall mood of the painting titled “mourning picture” is overwhelming sadness and grief. Various symbols are used to depict love and grief. The clouds in the sky and the green landscape show it is probably summertime. This is depicted by the fact that the mother and father are dressed in black, representing death and mourning.
The whole family appears to have haunted looks on their faces, no doubt reflecting on Effie’s life and their uncertainty of the future. The couple is seated on mahogany chairs showing they are still strong even after the death of their beloved daughter. They are seated under lilac bushes which depict mist emotions of love and death.
There is also a contrast in the lighting in the painting, which shows the family in darkness, but the daughter is bathed in sunlight. This shows that they love their deceased daughter in their mourning but believe she is in a beautiful place. Effie is shown to be quite a distance from the rest of the family, representing the separation they feel from their daughter, who has been torn away from them.
Adrienne Rich’s poem helps us understand the painting by telling the story from the dead daughter’s point of view. The poem, just like the painting, talks of the death of Effie and the family’s sorrow. ‘Draw out the map of every lilac leaf or the net of vines on my father’s and grief-tranced hand’.
However, in contrast to the painting, the poem gives us more insight into what the family is going through. Effie’s mother is overwhelmed with the loss. ‘Mute and rigid with the loss of my mother’. The house is said to be on a hill, and this represents the isolation they feel due to their loss.’ our clapboard house stands fast on its hill’. It tells us about the family’s plans for the future: to give all of Effie’s toys away and relocate. Effie feels torn apart from them and describes the bonds remaining between them to be as delicate as a spider web. The painting and the poem complement each other, and it is helpful to read the poem to understand the painting.