Often cited as a model of female iconography and modern reading, Novella romàntica was considered by Rusiñol to be one of his better paintings, as he wrote to his friend and confidant, the critic Raimon Casellas. Estefania Nantais was the model for the woman, dressed in black, who reads. (http://books0977.tumblr.com/post/143301780757/novella-rom%C3%A0ntica-1894-santiago-rusi%C3%B1ol)