Simeon Solomon and the biblical construction of marginal identity in Victorian England

During the formative stages of his sexual development (1855-1860), the Pre-Raphaelite artist Simeon Solomon (1840-1905) appropriated the authority of the Bible to explore, camouflage, and ultimately, legitimize his own homoerotic yearnings. Using Plummer and Troiden's four-stage constructionist model of Gay Identity Acquisition to provide an interpretive framework for six of the artist's early Old Testament drawings, this paper charts Solomon's development from awareness, to crisis, to acceptance. Solomon's use of biblical subjects to express his inner states reflects his construction of a socially marginal homosexual identity, an act which allowed him to overcome the despair and the isolation engendered by his peripheral standing in Victorian society.