Aglaia Coronio

Identity:

Aglaia Coronio, née Ionides, was the wife of Theodore John Coronio. She was the sister of Lucas ('Luke'), Alexander ('Aleco') and Helen Euphrosyne ('Nellie') Ionides, who married Whistler's brother Dr William McNeill Whistler. Their father Alexander Constantine Ionides was a wealthy and influential Greek merchant and collector. He married their mother Euterpe Sgouta in 1832.

Life:

Whistler was among the frequent guests at the Ionides' family home at Tulse Hill, London, and took part in their private theatricals. The Pennells record the existence of a performance programme designed by George Du Maurier with a drawing of himself, Whistler and Aleco Ionides at the top, and Luke Ionides and Aglaia Coronio standing below with the scroll of the dramatis personae between them. Through the Ionides family, Whistler made friendships with the Greek community in London including the Coronios.

Aglaia Coronio, like the rest of her family, collected works of art and she bought a number of Whistler's paintings including Grey and Silver: Old Battersea Reach y046, A Girl by a Shelf y048 and Nocturne in Black and Gold: Entrance to Southampton Water y179. She knew William Morris and also posed for Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Bibliography:

Ionides, Luke, Memories, Paris, 1925; Metaxas, K. H., 'The Ionides: a Greek family in Britain: family tree', The Greek Gazette, December 1995; Maurier, Daphne du, The Young George Du Maurier, London, 1951; Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 ; Druick, Douglas and Michael Hoog, Fantin-Latour, Ottawa, 1983; Dakers, Caroline, The Holland Park Circle: Artists and Victorian Society, New Haven and London, 1999.