16 Facts About Alexa Wilding

Alexa Wilding sat for more of his finished works than any other of his more well-known muses, including Elizabeth Siddall, Jane Morris and Fanny Cornforth.

Alexa Wilding's working-class family originated from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, in England, while Alexa herself was born an only child in Surrey in or about 1847.

Alexa Wilding's father was a piano-maker, while her father's brothers were butchers.

Alexa Wilding was a working girl, but her standard of life is not thought to have been terrible for the time, and she could read and write.

Alexa Wilding was first seen by Rossetti in 1865, when she was walking one evening along the Strand.

Alexa Wilding agreed to sit for him the following day for a proposed painting of Aspecta Medusa, but failed to arrive as planned; it is possible that she was put off by the morally dubious reputation of models at that time.

Alexa Wilding paid her a weekly fee to sit for him exclusively, afraid that other artists might employ her.

Charles James Ernest Alexa Wilding was born in Hammersmith on 23 June 1876.

Eleanor Alexa Wilding was born on 3 September 1877, in Hammersmith.

Alexa Wilding is buried in Brompton Cemetery, along with her grandmother, Mary Ann, and niece, Marie.

In Rossetti's paintings, Alexa Wilding's elegant looks and ethereal beauty were in contrast to another of Rossetti's models, the voluptuous Fanny Cornforth.

Alexa Wilding's more refined features were substituted for Cornforth's in Lady Lilith, in part when Rossetti's patron and owner of the painting Frederick Leyland considered the original too earthy.

Alexa Wilding sat like a Sphinx, waiting to be questioned, and with always a vague reply in return.

Alexa Wilding was struck with her beautiful face and golden, auburn hair.

Alexa Wilding's features are easy to spot in Rossetti's art; the red hair, long neck, perfect Cupid's bow lips, and somewhat softer eyes compared to Lizzie Siddall's famed heavy-lidded ones.

However, in The Blessed Damozel, Alexa Wilding's features are less discernible thanks to Rossetti's portrayal of her with his late wife's eyes.