City art gallery welcomes back its jewel in the crown painting

One of the “jewels” in the crown of the City of London’s art collection is going back on show on International Women’s Day after being on loan for a year.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s La Ghirlandata will be unveiled back at Guildhall Art Gallery after being on show at Tate Britain and Delaware Art Museum since last year.

The pre-Raphaelite painter, who was played by Poldark star Aidan Turner in the drama Desperate Romantics based on his turbulent private life, is said to have regarded the 1873 oil painting as his finest work.

It shows a woman looking directly at the viewer and was inspired by his model Alexa Wilding who grew up in London and agreed to sit for the artist after he spotted her walking along The Strand.

The two angels in the top corner were posed by May Morris – the youngest daughter of designer William Morris.

The work was bought by the City Corporation, which owns Guildhall Gallery, in 1927 for its permanent collection and is usually on show in the gallery’s main Victorian exhibition space.

Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Culture, Heritage, and Libraries Committee, Munsur Ali, said: “I hope that visitors to Tate Britain at Millbank and Delaware Art Museum have enjoyed viewing this beautiful and engaging Pre-Raphaelite masterpiece, which has always delighted art lovers at Guildhall Art Gallery.

“Among the many undeniably impressive Victorian and contemporary art works on display around the gallery, ‘La Ghirlandata’ is one of the jewels in its crown and one of the most iconic paintings held in our collection.”

Guildhall Gallery first opened its doors in 1886 and its basement is home to the remains of London’s Roman Amphitheatre which dates from AD70.