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.
Lucrezia Borgia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 18601861
© National Gallery, London
Details
- Medium:
- Pencil & watercolour on paper
- Dimensions:
- 44 x 26 cm
- Acquired in:
- 1916
- Presented by:
- Rae family through The Art Fund
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.