Critics have written about Washington Allston’s Rosalie almost since the time it was painted.  Their attitudes toward the painting changed over time and mirrored changes in the prevailing tastes in the art world.  Commissioned by Nathan Appleton and completed in 1835, Rosalie was first shown at an exhibition of forty-nine works by Allston at Chester Harding’s studio in Boston in 1839.  One diarist noted:

Have visited the Allston Gallery and seen Rosalie for the last time before going home.  I would not have believed that I should feel such a pang at parting from a picture.  I forgot the presence of everybody else, and sat for an hour before Rosalie without moving.

Carlisle, Nancy.  Cherished Possessions, A New England Legacy.  Boston: Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, 2003.