Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Lucrezia Borgia

1860–1

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In Tate Britain
Exhibition

The Rossettis

A major exhibition devoted to the radical Rossetti generation

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Artist
Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828–1882
Medium
Graphite and watercolour on paper
Dimensions
Support: 438 × 258 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Presented in memory of Henry Michael Field by Charles Ricketts through the Art Fund 1916
Reference
N03063

Display caption

Rossetti began work on this subject in 1860 at a time when he was especially interested in the history of the infamous Borgia family. In this watercolour Lucrezia Borgia washes her hands after poisoning her husband, Duke Alfonso Bisceglie. She is aided in the crime by her father, Pope Alexander IV. The reflection in the mirror shows him assisting the Duke to walk, thereby ensuring that the poison thoroughly infects the entire body. Burne-Jones was clearly influenced by the composition when painting the evil heroine Sidonia von Bork (see no.2). Many years after finishing the watercolour, Rossetti revised the details of Lucrezia's face.

Gallery label, September 2004

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