This work was not part of the original Russell-Cotes collection. It
would be difficult to imagine Merton being admitted to the circle of the
increasingly troubled & reclusive Rossetti. This famous painting is
about as close as a finished painting by the artist ever came to
depicting a nude. Ruskin criticised the coarseness of the painting of
the flowers, though I suspect that the famously inhibited critic was
more shocked by its overt sexuality than anything else. Initially the
model was an amazonian cook
from a nearby house, But the head in this version was by Alexa Wilding, one of Rossettis stunners.
Buy
print on canvas from Illusions Gallery |
