Monna Vanna
by ROSSETTI, Dante Gabriel, Oil on canvas, 89 x 86 cm
Rossetti was particularly interested in colour harmonies, such as the Venetian yellows tempered with red and green of Monna Vanna, which Rossetti painted in 1866. A sumptuous echo of Raphael’s Portrait of Joan of Aragon, Monna Vanna is built up of many circles, emphasizing its fullness - in the dress, the hair, the fan, the jewelry, the necklace, and even the pot of roses in the background.