Who is the boy? [4]

 

D G Rossetti, design for Cassandra, 1861-7, BM

The artist described in detail his overcrowded design for the Trojan scene of Hector refusing to heed Cassandra's prophecy before departing for his fatal encounter with Achilles.  He listed all the figures apart from the kneeling Black youth  who holds Paris's helmet  in readiness for battle.  Paris is still dallying with Helen, who's tying on his greaves in a very sexy manner.

In the list, even the Black nanny attending Andromache and baby Astyanax on the far left is mentioned. No models for any of the figures are named, however, and it's not possible to guess the identity of the Black youth.  He is plainly not the same boy who sat for the child in Rossetti's Beloved.  But his features are sufficiently distinctive to  compare with similar figures in works by other contemporaries, and hence possibly guess as his origins, if not name.

DGR described the picture in the following terms: “The incident is just before Hector's last battle. Cassandra has warned him in vain by her prophecies, and is now throwing herself against a pillar, and rending her clothes in despair, because he will not be detained longer. He is rushing down the steps and trying to make himself heard across the noise, as he shouts an order to an officer in charge of the soldiers who are going round the ramparts on their way to battle. One of his captains is beckoning to him to make haste. Behind him is Andromache with her child, and a nurse who is holding the cradle. Helen is arming Paris in a leisurely way on a sofa; we may presume from her expression that Cassandra has not spared her in her denunciations. Paris is patting her on the back to soothe her, much amused. Priam and Hecuba are behind, the latter stopping her ears in horror. One brother is imploring Cassandra to desist from her fear-inspiring cries. The ramparts are lined with engines for casting stones on the besiegers.”