The Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty by Julia Margaret Cameron

Julia Margaret Cameron, The Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty, June 1866, albumen print from collodion negative, National Gallery of Art, Washington, New Century Fund 1997.97.1

The Photograph

The Mountain Nymph, wide-eyed, startled—and caught in perpetuity by Julia Margaret Cameron's camera. Inspired by Milton's poem, Cameron, who delighted in the arts of poetry and painting, transformed this tousle-haired young woman into Milton's "Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty," an emblem of the freedom and innocence of youth.