Rossetti The Loving Cup CC0175 Poster

Dante Gabriel Rossetti - The Loving Cup, 1867. A beautiful young woman with richly braided long hair, and wrapped in a deep red robe, raises a golden cup to her lips as she holds the cup's lid to her breast with her left hand and faces the viewer with a dream-like expression. The frame of this work is inscribed "Douce nuit et joyeux jour/ A chevalier de bel amour". This inscription shows that the image probably represents a toast to the woman's knight, who is leaving for war or has left for war. While the source of this quote is uncertain, it is thought that Rossetti, steeped in Arthurian legend, wrote the poem himself. The model is Alexa Wilding, who frequently appeared in Rossetti's works from the spring of 1865 onwards.