Lady Lilith, 1866-68 (altered 1872-73)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Oil on canvas, 38 x 33 1/2 inches
Delaware Art Museum, Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935 Lilith, the subject of this painting, is described in Judaic literature as the first wife of Adam. She is associated with the seduction of men and the murder of children. The depiction of women as powerful and evil temptresses was prevalent in 19th-century painting, particularly among the Pre-Raphaelites. The artist depicts Lilith as an iconic, Amazon-like female with long, flowing hair. Her languid nature is reiterated in the inclusion of the poppy in the lower right corner—the flower of opium-induced slumber.                              

 

 Lady Lilith (red chalk on paper).

62x57 cms

 Medium: crayon

Production Description

Current Location: Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

Production Date: 1867 (circa)

BODY'S  BEAUTY

Of Adam's first wife, Lilith, it is told

(The witch, he loved before the gift of Eve)

That, ere the snake's, her sweet tongue could deceive,

And her enchanted hair was the first gold.

And still she sits, young while the earth is old,

And, subtly of herself contemplative,

draws men to watch the bright web she can weave,

Till heart and body and life are in its hold.

The rose and poppy are her flowers; for where

Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent

And soft-shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?

Lo! as that youth's eyes burned at thine, so went

Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent,

And round his heart one strangling golden hair.

1866

 ТЕЛЕСНАЯ  ПРЕЛЕСТЬ.

Лилит, Адама первая жена

(Колдунья, что до Евы с ним была).

Предтечей змия в кознях прослыла,

И золотилась кос её волна.

Стареет мир, не старится она;

Спокон веков она мужей влекла,

Улавливая души и тела

В силки страстей, как в наши времена.

Ей любы мак и томных роз цветы;

Кого, Лилит, не зачаруешь ты,

Твой поцелуй и сонных грёз настой?

Едва зажжёт огонь твоих зениц

Взор юноши -  и тот повержен ниц,

И душит сердце волос золотой.

  Короче, весь вред от баб, ох уж эти Анфиски.

        Although a remarkably more controversial model than Elizabeth Siddal or Jane Morris, Fanny was not only the subject of some of Dante’s most astonishing works but it seems she was “forgotten” before her time. She modeled for the painting of “Lady Lilith”, the first wife of Adam in Jewish mythology and seen as the personification of lust. “Sibylla Palmifera” was conceived as an opposing piece to “Lady Lilith” and painted from the model Alexa Wilding. It represented “Soul’s Beauty”, a sonnet Rossetti wrote to accompany his painting. The modestly dressed Sibyl sits in a temple surrounded by the emblems of Love: the Cupid, Death: the Skull, and Mystery: the Sphinx. In contrast, Lilith admires herself in a mirror, the attribute of vanity. Initially the contrast between the pictures was very marked, but in 1872-3 Rossetti replaced Fanny’s head with the head of Alexa at the request of a buyer, and the original concept was destroyed. She is the sumptuous and inviting woman in paintings such as the above mentioned “Bocca Botacia” and “Lady Lilith” as well as “The Blue Bower” and others. “The Blue Bower” was Rossetti’s last major portrait of Fanny Cornforth.The artist identified the subject on a label attached to the original frame: "Beware of her fair hair, for she excells [sic]/ All women in the magic of her locks,/ And when she twines them round a young man's neck/ she will not ever set him free again." These lines are taken from Shelley's translation of the Walpurgisnacht scene in Goethe's Faust. Here, as in Rosetti's other drawings and paintings of Lady Lilith, the artist's mistress, Fanny Cornforth, served as the model.

            The oil painting Lady Lilith depicts artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti's version of an ancient figure, but with a twist. Here, the figure is in the guise of a Nineteenth century femme fatale. According to the legend, Lilith was the first wife of Adam. She was both beautiful and devious. Rossetti composed a poem about this woman, in which she is characterized as a dazzling seductress with golden hair that could be used to ensnare a man. And the artist certainly emphasized the deadly charms of Lilith's gold tresses in this painting, for she is caught in the act of combing her luxurious locks while gazing contemplatively into a hand mirror. It is also worth mentioning that two of Rossetti's 'stunners' posed for this work of art - both Fanny Cornforth and Alexa Wilding lent their lovely features.

ИСТОЧНИКИ:

http://www.rossettiarchive.org/