Joli Coeur

Joli Coeur (1867) at Manchester Art Gallery — sweetheart or pretty heart — belongs to Rossetti's series of intimate half-length figures with affectionately titled names, painted on mahogany panel. The choice of mahogany as a support is unusual and may reflect a specific patron's request or Rossetti's own experimental interest in how the warm reddish tone of the wood might interact with his oil colors. By 1867, Rossetti was at the peak of his mature symbolic figure production, regularly using Alexa Wilding as his model for the fair-haired type. The Manchester Art Gallery has a strong Pre-Raphaelite collection with important Rossetti holdings, and Joli Coeur is contextualized there within the broader Aesthetic Movement tradition of idealized female portraiture.

Mahogany panel provides an unusual warm reddish ground tone that, if imperfectly sealed, could influence the final coloristic effect. Rossetti would need to either exploit or compensate for this warm undertone in his flesh and drapery colors.