She was one of the most recognizable women in the world, her long copper hair filling painting after painting, even if few people knew her name: Fanny Cornforth. Model, muse, and mistress to the most influential artists of the Victorian era, she still had to fight for everything she got. Until, in the end, she lost the one thing she could count on for sure: herself.

You can see Fanny in this 1868 painting, "I know a maiden fair to see," in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/83645/i-know-a-maiden-fair-to-see-charles-edward-perugini

You can see the photograph mentioned in this episode--of Fanny, posing beside a mirror--here: http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/sa223.rap.html

Finding Fanny: The Model Who Disappeared

"The Object" podcast explores the surprising, true stories behind museum objects with wit and curiosity. An object's view of us. Hosted by Tim Gihring, produced by the Minneapolis Institute of Art.