Lady Lilith is an oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti first painted in 1866–68 using his mistress Fanny Cornforth as the model. It was then altered in 1872–73 to show the face of Alexa Wilding. The subject is Lilith, who according to ancient Judaic myth, was the first wife of Adam and is associated with the seduction of men and the murder of children. She is shown as a "powerful and evil temptress" and as "an iconic, Amazon-like female with long, flowing hair. Rossetti overpainted Cornforth's face, perhaps at the suggestion of his client, shipping magnate Frederick Richards Leyland. The painting was in Leyland’s drawing room with five other Rossetti stunners.
Lady Lilith
oil on canvas • 96.5 cm × 85.1 cm
-
Dante Gabriel Rossetti