"Lady Lilith" by D.G. Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti  produced two paintings entitled “Lady Lilith.” One piece is an oil painting, the other done in water colours. The painting depicts a pale woman in a floral setting, combing her blonde hair and staring at a mirror. There is almost an ethereal quality to her, and the floral surroundings are vaguely reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. In addition she is dressed in white, eluding a connotation of purity, which is a far cry from the depictions of Lilith that we’ve encountered so far. Compare to John Collier’s Lilith painting where she is nude with the snake wrapped around her.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti based his painting Lady Lilith on a sonnet from his poem 'The House of Life' entitled "Body's Beauty."
"Lady Lilith sits luxuriously in a sensual environment. Her auburn hair cascades down her voluptuous frame. Her draping dress barely covers her overtly feminine form, revealing her pale shoulders, clavicle, and breasts.
As Lilith combs her hair she contemplates her own reflection in a hand mirror. Another mirror in the upper left corner reflects a tree, adding to the ambiguity and mystery of Lilith's surroundings."
Like her flowing hair and garments, Lilith is draped over a chair with white roses and poppy's framing her seductive face, but the reflection of the tree makes it unclear to the viewer whether the scene is in or out of doors.
The overt sensuality of the painting is clearly grounded in physical beauty and desire, just as the sonnet speaks of the "Body's Beauty.
In Talmudic legend Lilith was Adam's first wife. In this painting she is Rossetti's 'femme fatale', seducing young men with her feminine wiles and then encouraging them to defile themselves."

Lady Lilith)

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

Oil on canvas

38 x 33 1/2 inches.

Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware