The Royal Holloway Collection

The art piece that intrigued me the most in "The Royal Holloway Collection" was “The Babylonian Marriage Market” by Edwin Longsden Long. In the discussion we had in class the question was asked, “Why put this painting up in a women’s college?”. There were several responses. Thomas Holloway never stated why he chose this painting. Although I believe the painting was in the college collection for various reasons I want to focus on is how it portrays comparisons.
According to Herodotus the most beautiful women were sold first and then the more “humble” or “crippled” were autioned last. In the painting all of the men are looking at the first women standing on the block, but her back is facing us. From the men’s pointing fingers, and excitement we conclude she is the most beautiful. Just as important though is in women sitting in the far right corner. She is the last women in line and presumably the ugliest women. Her head is buried in her hands, and we can not see her face either. By doing this Edwin allows the audience to imagine both women. I think that he wanted to portray that beauty is an ambiguous term. He understood that if he tried to put a face to the ugliest and most beautiful women everyone who saw the painting would focus on comparing them, even to actual women they know.
Instead of having his focus based on the opinions of beauty vs. ugly he wanted the audience to observe the entire scene of the painting, not simply comparing the women. I think that Thomas Holloway wanted the women attend the Royal Holloway college to also realize this. Many of them were considered outcast because they were ambitious enough to obtain an education. Thomas could have wanted the pupils to understand that they were not alone when they felt shunned by society. More importantly he could have wanted them to realize that comparing beauty, intelligence, or talents is not the focus of his college.