She agreed to sit for him the following day for a proposed painting of Aspecta Medusa, but failed to arrive as planned; it is possible that she was put off by the morally dubious reputation of models at that time.

So important did he consider the look of this specific model to it, when he spotted her again in the street, he jumped from the cab he was in and persuaded her to be led straight back to his studio.

Wilding's more refined features were substituted for Cornforth's in Lady Lilith (1864–1868), in part when Rossetti's patron and owner of the painting Frederick Leyland considered the original too earthy.

[9] Similarly, the painting Venus Verticordia (1864–1868), originally modelled by a near six-foot-tall cook,[10] was repainted with Wilding's face in January 1868.

Dunn described Wilding as having "a lovely face, beautifully moulded in every feature, full of quiescent, soft, mystical repose that suited some of his conceptions admirably...

"[12] Wilding's features are easy to spot in Rossetti's art; the red hair, long neck, perfect Cupid's bow lips, and somewhat softer eyes compared to Lizzie Siddall's famed heavy-lidded ones.

Additionally two of Rossetti's paintings featuring Wilding are similar to those originally modelled for by his late wife Lizzie Siddall, Regina Cordium and Damsel of the Sanct Grael.

[13] According to his close friend, the art critic Frederic George Stephens, "nothing he drew of her, diverse as the delineations were, seemed less than an exact likeness."