#red sash

In the earliest version of this painting, begun in the late 1860s, the model for the central figure was Fanny Cornforth, who was Rossetti’s mistress for a time. However, the patron for whom it was painted objected to the overly sensuous nature of Cornforth’s figure and asked that it be altered. Rossetti reworked the composition using a new model, Alexa Wilding. Wilding was a dressmaker whom Rossetti apparently discovered one day while walking in London.

Her artistic style is generally considered part of the aftermath of Rococo with elements of an adopted Neoclassical style. Her subject matter and color palette can be classified as Rococo, but her style is aligned with the emergence of Neoclassicism.

panel pirate

God Speed, which appeared at the RA in 1900, shows a young woman binding an embroidered sleeve on the arm of her knight as he departs, horsed, fully armed, and bearing a lance decorated with a pennant, for the tournament. Other knights have already passed beneath the portcullis and are entering the field of battle. The picture was the first of several painted by Blair Leighton in the 1900s in which a knight and his lady are seen in incidents illustrative of the code of chivalry; The Accolade followed in 1901, and The Dedication in 1908. The arms and armour which feature in all these pictures were no doubt in the artist's own collection, which is known to have included many examples.

Valentino Couture Spring/Summer 2018

Josephine Marcus: [looking lustfully at Wyatt] This is a remarkable scene...I wonder who that tall drink of water is. Mr. Fabian: My darling, you've cast your gaze upon the quintessential frontier type. Note the lean silhouette. Eyes closed by the sun, yet sharp as a hawk. He has the look of both predator, and prey. Josephine Marcus: I want one. Mr. Fabian: Happy hunting.

Collection: Manchester Art Gallery, Liverpool, England