Red chalk study for the head of Andromeda, 1868, a preparatory sketch for an unrealised painting called Aspecta Medusa

Large study in red chalk on grey paper of a young woman's head. She holds her head to one side and looks downwards, her long hair falling over her shoulder.

Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

This highly-finished head study was made in preparation for an oil painting, Aspecta Medusa. This painting was commissioned in 1867 but rejected by the patron, C.P. Mathews of the brewers Ind Coope & Co., before it was completed, on the grounds that Mathews disliked the severed head of Medusa. The subject was to be Perseus holding the severed head of Medusa above a pool of water so that Andromeda was able to look upon its reflection. This study shows Andromeda, whose body was supported by Perseus, leaning over to look down. This particular pose, in which the model (in this case Alexa Wilding) holds her head at an extreme angle, was a favourite of Rossetti's.

Rossetti wrote the following poem on the subject:

Andromeda, by Perseus saved and wed,
Hankered each day to see the Gorgon's head:
And mirrored in the wave was safely seen
That death she lived by.

Let not thine eyes know
Any forbidden thing itself, although
It once should save as well as kill; but be
Its shadow upon life enough for thee.

The drawing belonged to C.A. Ionides.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti made this highly-finished head study from his model Alexa Wilding in preparation for a painting, Aspecta Medusa (which remained unrealised). The subject was to be Perseus holding the severed head of Medusa - which remained deadly to those who looked directly at it - above a pool of water, so that Andromeda could safely see its reflection. The study shows Andromeda, whose body was supported by Perseus, leaning over to look down.

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