La Ghirlandata

La Ghirlandata was translated by the artist’s brother, William Michael Rossetti in 1884 as ‘The Lady of the Wreath’. The work was painted at the artists colony Klemscott Manor in 1873. The main figure was modelled by Alexa Wilding, an aspiring actress, while May Morris posed for the angel heads.

Rossetti invites multi-sensory appeal in this work by including allusions to sound through the harp, and scent via the flowers. Scholars have understood the use of musical instruments in Rossetti’s later work as a metaphor for love making. The sensuous image evades narrative, instead using symbols, rich colours and textural detail to create an overall Aesthetic effect. Rossetti described the work as “The greenest picture in the world, the principal figure being draped in green and surrounded with glowing green foliage”. After a trip to Paris in 1864, Rossetti was inspired by the works of Ingres, Veronese, Titan, and Da Vinci. This led him to create ‘icons of idealized women’ that embodied both beauty and ‘art for arts’ sake’. Other examples of similar decorative works painted by Rossetti during this period are The Bower Meadow (Manchester Art Gallery) and Veronica Veronese (Delaware Art Museum).