From:Williamson Art Gallery and Museum

Name/TitleMonna Rosa (After Rossetti)

About this objectA Pre-Raphaelite portrait, this drawing depicts a red-headed women, a flower in one hand, her other used to rest her head, staring wistfully in the viewer’s direction. The colours in the work have a delicate beauty, with a soft pink used in both the background and in the cheeks of its subject.

Harold Rathbone was the founder of Della Robbia ceramics, the iconic Birkenhead company. The drawing adds to the Williamson's collection and knowledge of Rathbone’s work, showing the influence of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood on his style (which can also be seen in many of the gallery's Della Robbia ceramics).

In creating this drawing, Rathbone copied a portrait that his mother owned, a work by the giant of British nineteenth century-art, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. However, this work has now been lost, with its last known whereabouts being with the art dealers Gooden & Fox. A print still survives of Rossetti’s Monna Rossa (and apart from its lack of colour, is almost identical to Rathbone’s) but Rathbone’s work is now the best surviving remnant of the Rossetti piece.

MakerRathbone, Harold Steward (1858-1929)

Maker Roledraughtsman

Style and IconographyPortrait

Style and IconographyPre-Raphaelite

Techniquewatercolour and pastel on paper

Measurementsdrawing height: 28cm
drawing width: 22.5cm

frame height: 54cm
frame width: 48cm
frame depth: 4cm

Subject and Association KeywordsRossetti, Dante Gabriel (1828-1882)

Subject and Association Keywordsflower

Credit LinePurchased with the support of the Williamson and Priory Friends and private donations, 2025

Object Typedrawing

Object numberBIKGM.9080

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved