“Veronica Veronese”
For today, a lovely piece from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood…
“Veronica Veronese” is an oil on canvas painting by the English Pre-Raphaelite artist, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, from 1872. This piece was inspired, like many other of Rossetti’s works, by Venetian art. It was created as a companion piece to “Lady Lilith,” another painting by Rossetti.
Both “Veronica Veronese” and “Lady Lilith” were purchased before completion by the businessman, Frederick R Leyland, who collected many Pre-Raphaelite style paintings.
Rossetti made up the name Veronica Veronese to represent the artistic soul who aids in creation. In this painting, she is aiding the creation of music. In a letter to Leyland, Rossetti said, “I mean to call the violin picture ‘Veronica Veronese’ which sounds like the name of a musical genius”.
Supporting that is a quote written by either Rossetti himself, or the English poet, Algernon Charles Swinburne, inside the painting’s original frame. The quote reads “Suddenly leaning forward, the Lady Veronica rapidly wrote the first notes on the virgin page. Then she took the bow of her violin to make her dream reality; but before commencing to play the instrument hanging from her hand, she remained quiet a few moments, listening to the inspiring bird, while her left hand strayed over the strings searching for the supreme melody, still elusive. It was the marriage of the voices of nature and the soul—the dawn of a mystic creation.”
Rossetti used the model, Alexa Wilding, for this piece. She was 25 at the time. Wilding was one of Rossetti’s favorite models and he immortalized her in over 15 of his finished paintings and at least 13 drawings. He was so enamored of her fine features that he paid her to exclusively model for only him. Several times, he substituted the facial features of other models with that of Wilding.
This painting’s companion piece, “Lady Lilith”, was modeled by Fanny Cornforth. Three years after its completion, Rossetti repainted the face in this piece using Wilding as his model.
“Veronica Veronese” is currently on display at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, Delaware, in the United States.
For more on Dante Gabriel Rossetti, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
