pre-raphaelisme: Vanessa and Stella by John Everett Millais, 1868 Vanessa is a fancy portrait d
pre-raphaelisme:Vanessa and Stella by John Everett Millais, 1868Vanessa is a fancy portrait depicting Jonathan Swift’s correspondent Esther Vanhomrigh (1688-1723) Esther Vanhomrigh is known as “Swift’s Vanessa” because of the fictional name he gave her when he published their correspondence. The portrait is wholly imaginary. No actual image of Esther Vanhomrigh exists. She is holding a letter, presumably written to or from Swift. Her sad expression is related to the fraught nature of the relationship, which was broken up by Swift’s relationship to another woman, Esther Johnson whom he called “Stella”. -- source link
#19th century