Sybilla Palmifella



Sibylla Palmifera (1868). Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Oil on canvas.

這幅畫在1865-70之間完成，對照於\" Lady Lilith\"中Fanny Cornforth的華服裝飾、虛榮與自戀。圖中適度穿著的女先知手拿代表預言能力的橄欖枝坐在富含著象徵意義圖案的大理石雕寶座上，徘徊在一邊的蝴蝶像徵靈魂，在兩手旁各有燈照亮壁柱上面的雕刻，在左邊玫瑰花環的下面是蒙住眼睛的邱比特（Cupid）代表愛，右邊是罌粟的花冠下面一個頭顱代表死亡，在Sibyl頭右邊是有翼斯芬克斯雕刻和左邊的多頭蛇兩者代表著神秘。

羅塞蒂隨該畫寫的十四行詩 \'Soul\'s Beauty\'
Under the arch of life, where love and death,
Terror and mystery, guard her shrine, I saw
Beauty enthroned; and though her gaze struck awe,
I drew it in as simply as my breath.
Hers are the eyes which, over and beneath
The sky and sea bend on thee, — which can draw,
By sea or sky or woman, to one law,
The allotted bondman of her palm and wreath.
This is that Lady Beauty, in whose praise
Thy voice and hand shake still, — long known to thee
By flying hair and fluttering hem, — the beat
Following her daily of thy heart and feet,
How passionately and irretrievably,
In what fond flight, how many ways and days!

\"Sibylla Palmifera\" 是稍後羅塞蒂以模特兒 Alexa Wilding描述的靈魂之美是拿來作\"Lady Lilith\"肉體之美的對照。為了顯示兩類女性之美，羅塞蒂有了這幅肖像與他的Lady Lilith 配成對的想法，兩者都有它的危險和誘惑。

Mrs Surtees 指出 Alexa Wilding 具有 \"不會太表彰於外的智慧 a not too-marked intelligence\" 和 \"稍稍輪廓明顯的顎線 slightly heavy jaw-line\" 使她帶著 \"慵懶地特質（languid features）\"。很顯然這出色的氣質，使畫中的她是濃厚的赤褐色秀髮波浪狀的覆蓋著她的前額，像獅身人面像似的靜坐著等待被詢問並回以模糊不清的的答案。在她看似平和的外表下有份深刻的情感，不需太花俏的妝點就能充份的表達畫家想呈現的沉靜、溫柔、神秘被全然愛慕的概念。

Alexa Wilding 是 19世紀60年代和19世紀70年代受藝術家喜愛的模特兒之一，最重要的代表作有：
Venus Verticordia (1864-8; Russell-Cotes Art Gallery, Bournemouth),
Monna Vanna (1866; Tate Gallery),
Regina Cordium (1866; Glasgow Art Gallery),
Veronica Veronese
The Bower Meadow (1872; Manchester City Art Gallery ),
La Ghirlandata (1873; Guildhall Art Gallery, London),
The Blessed Damozel (1875-8; Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard)

和 Sibylla Palmifera (1866-70; Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight)

在複雜的糾葛中，她一直與Rosetti保持著純潔深厚的友誼，一直到1882年 Rossetti死亡，她是少數幾個前來致意的朋友，她自己還帶著重病。

Alexa Wilding  http://www.rossettiarchive.org/browser.html