Pandora For Sale

Rossetti's magnificent portrait of his muse Jane Morris, née Burden, as Pandora (1871), wreathed in the red smoke of evils escaping from her box, comes up for grabs in Sotheby's London auction of British & Irish Art on 22 May. This is the first time in nearly 50 years that it will be on public display. Its estimated price tag is £5-7 million, a far cry from its commission price of 750 guineas generously paid by John Graham. So this is probably our last chance to see it before it vanishes into another private collection for half a century (CLICK). A British work of this quality should be on display in the National Gallery.