Included Text
- Lady Lilith. Watercolour. D. G. Rossetti. 1867
- Beware of her fair hair, for she excels
- All women in the magic of her locks;
- And when she winds them round a young man's neck,
- She will not ever set him free again.
- Goethe
Note: The text (which gives Shelley's translation) appear in holograph
on a slip of paper pasted on the back of the picture.
Scholarly Commentary
Introduction
The importance of this picture, which may have been largely executed by DGR's assistant Treffry Dunn, lies in its relation to DGR's original painting. This is a replica that preserves the face of Fanny Cornforth, who was the original model. The picture was radically altered when DGR substituted the face of Alexa Wilding for Fanny Cornforth's, and most commentators believe the change robbed the picture of its essential power.
Bibliography