A Fisher Girl’s Light (A Pilgrim of Volendam returning from Kevelaer)
- Artist: Marianne Stokes
- Date: 1899
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 662 × 452 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the *A Fisher Girl’s Light* by Marianne Stokes. The canvas shows a young woman walking beside a quiet harbor, her head bowed, eyes shut as if listening to a quiet prayer. She wears the traditional Volendam costume and a white winged headdress, a hallmark of the Dutch fishing town. Two lanterns glow orange against a dusk‑tinged sea, casting a warm halo over her figure while boats and nets stretch into a cool, geometric background. The girl holds a rosary in one hand and a lantern bearing Our Lady of Luxemburg, Kevelaer, in the other—her gaze drifting toward the sacred image. Stokes, who studied medieval techniques, was moving toward an egg‑tempera approach, applying tiny, precise strokes to achieve a paler, smoother surface that hints at early twentieth‑century abstraction.
The painting was completed in 1899 after Stokes’s tour of Holland, where she witnessed the annual pilgrimage from Volendam to Kevelaer. The scene reflects her blend of naturalism and spirituality, capturing a humble fisher’s moment of devotion amid a landscape that feels both familiar and mystical. The work stands as a quiet testament to the quiet dignity of working people and the quiet faith that guides them.
See it in person
A Fisher Girl’s Light (A Pilgrim of Volendam returning from Kevelaer) is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
