A young woman, in a swoon

This watercolour clearly demonstrates the influence of Rossetti upon Solomon's early work. The pose of the young woman wearing a garland of roses, fallen backwards, her eyes closed as if in death, the inclusion of an organ, at which she is seated and the second, possibly angelic, figure are all strongly reminiscent of Rossetti's drawing of Saint Cecilia (1856-7), executed for the Moxon Tennyson. The seated woman appears to be modelled on Lizzie Siddal, who had died of a laudanum overdose in February of that year. The present work is similar in style and degree of finish to The Painters Pleasaunce, 1861, The Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester. An early exercise in Aestheticism with the disposition of strong colours, the arts and crafts style chair and the objects placed in the background.