We know neither who the woman is nor the reason for her mourning. Böcklin indicated that she might be the ‘last scion of an old family’. With its pervasive melancholy, the painting acquired iconic status as the embodiment of a vague, insatiable yearning for southern regions and past times. In 1897 the art historian Heinrich Wölfflin wrote: ‘It is a painting that we cannot imagine being without, with associations leading in every direction. Whenever our century’s sensibility is spoken of, mention will have to be made of Villa by the Sea.’