Phyllis Deserted - Become the Spirit of the Almond Tree (1900) takes as its subject the classical tragedy of Phyllis, Queen of Thrace, and her lover Demophoön, King of Athens. In the legend, the pair fell in love after the conquest of Troy, when Demophoön was staying at the Thracian court on his return home. They agreed to marry after Demophoön returned from Athens. He delayed there so long however that Phyllis doubted he would ever return and heartbroken, she killed herself. Filled with pity, the gods turned her into an almond tree.It was a popular subject with many of the Victorian Pre-Raphaelites. Here, Rooke depicts a red-headed Phyllis with a strikingly Burne-Jones-esque face among the branches of a blossoming tree. Rooke was Burne-Jones’s studio assistant during the period 1868-98. He was also commissioned by the famous English art critic John Ruskin to make architectural drawings.