International studio (35.1908)

The Scrip


Property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
THE LADY LILITH, WATER COLOR BY DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI

dwells with a painter’s appreciation in his poem
“Jenny” was more emphasized, the eyes were length-
ened with a subtler curve; the type was changed
from the fair, candid loveliness of Fanny Cornforth
to that of an enchantress. Whether Rossetti first
intended his picture to embody the Lilith legend or
not it is impossible to determine without docu-
mentary evidence; but there is no uncertainty as
to his later intention. Both the lines written by
him on the back of the Coltart water color: “Lady

Lilith. Beware of her fair hair, for she excels all
women in the magic of her locks, and when she
twines them round a young man’s neck, she will
not ever let him go again.—Goethe, ” and his own
sonnet which is inscribed on the frame of the oil
color, make clear the definite conception of Lilith
which had entered his mind in connection with the
picture. This conception he finally conveyed with
the mental force and acumen characteristic of
him.

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