OIL PAINTING: Luna, 1870
THIS is an intriguing picture in view of the fact that it has not been properly identified, and therefore the subject and date are unknown. Halle spent much of his youth travelling, mainly as an antidote to ill health, and spent large amounts of time in Italy, where he fell in love -with Venice. It was upon his return to England, in the late 1860s, that he began a promising career as a portrait painter. It was also around this time that Halle became acquainted with Dante Rossetti and Burne-
Jones. From that time onwards his painting style
was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite movement and the on-going trend towards Aestheticism.