The Redemption of Tannhäuser (recto); Figure sketches (verso). Artist: Sir Frank Dicksee (British, London 1853-1928 London). Dimensions: Image: 11 1/4 × 17 5/16 in. (28.5 × 44 cm)Sheet: 12 1/4 × 18 7/16 in. (31.1 × 46.8 cm). Date: 1892.Dicksee's watercolor study describes the dramatic climax of the Tannhäuser legend (a medieval saga popularized by Richard Wagner's opera of 1845). Returning to Eisenbach from Rome, the eponymous hero kneels here by the bier of Elizabeth, a pure former love, and repents his sinful devotion to Venus. As a vision of the goddess dissolves at left, a papal messenger hurries forward with a budding staff that signifies divine forgiveness.Dicksee's art was rooted in late Pre-Raphaelite concepts developed by artists such as Edward Burne-Jones, and the present image encapsulates the competing pulls of erotic desire and Christian devotion. Two years before making this drawing, the artist exhibited "The Redemption of Tannhäuser" at the Royal Academy, and here rework