© National Gallery, London
Lucrezia Borgia
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
- Art Funded
- 1916
- Dimensions
- 44 x 26 cm
- Presented by
- Rae family through The Art Fund
The full-length figure in a sumptuous white and gold dress is washing her hands in a basin after preparing a poison draft for her husband Alphonso, Duke of Bisceglia.
In a circular mirror is a reflection of Alphonso on crutches, being walked about the room by Pope Alexander IV, as Rossetti said, 'to settle the poison well into his system.'
Provenance
Collection of Mr F R Leyland, but Rosetti took it back to repaint the figure of Lucretia. Purchased by G Rae in 1874.