In A Sea-Spell, how is the Description of the Painting elucidated?
The painting depicts a siren in human form playing a musical instrument "in a thoughtful reverie", surrounded by apples, apple blossoms, and a seagull. The instrument being played has been described as a harp and as "somewhat related to the psaltery"; according to an analysis published in the journal Music in Art, it is an unusually short Japanese koto, a traditional 13-stringed zither-like instrument.The artist's brother William Michael Rossetti described the subject as "a Siren, or Sea-Fairy, whose lute summons a sea-bird to listen, and whose song will prove fatal to some fascinated mariner".
apple siren blossom psaltery harp William Michael Rossetti koto seagull zither