The subject of Hesterna Rosa (“Yesterday’s Rose”) was drawn from Philip van Artvelde, a contemporary play set in 14th-century Flanders. The play chronicles the life of a young nobleman and his seemingly reckless relationship with a woman of lower social stature. Rossetti has chosen for depiction the moment when the woman in question, Elena, pauses to reflect on her life path and the wisdom of the choices made. The theme of the fallen woman was prominent in Rossetti’s work, and certainly autobiographical, but here he addresses it within the safety of the distant past. "(see references)"