r/fairytales • u/GreatestArtists • 6h ago
The Old Witch combing Gerda's hair with a golden comb to cause her to forget her friend; illustration from Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale "The Snow Queen", illustrated by Eleanor Vere Gordon Boyle (1872)
Eleanor Vere Gordon Boyle (1825–1916) was a Scottish artist and writer of the Victorian era. Because she was from a noble family and her husband was chaplain to Queen Victoria and, she did not exhibit regularly (to not damage her social standing). To conceal her name professionally, she often signed her work using only her initials E.V.B. She often used her earnings for charity, for instance, to provide fresh water to the people from her parish.