After the previous posts about repeated use of objects in Pre-Raphaelite art (Rossetti and His Baubles and Hair Adornment in Rossetti Paintings),  I have taken to scouring images for props used repeatedly.  One of which is this silver ornament or pillar I’ve seen in both The Bridesmaid and Mariana by Sir John Everett Millais:

In The Bridesmaid, the pillar sits in the forefront of the painting:

In Mariana, the pillar is a bit harder to find.  It sits in the right hand area, on a table against the wall:

I’ve seen this book online many times, but when I happened upon it in the library I could not resist its call. How can I not be tempted to read a book with a Rossetti stunner gracing the cover?

At this point, I am about 100 pages into the tale. The language is lush and gorgeous. I’m loving Hand’s use of imagery and color. And if you know me at all,I’m sure you understand that I was entranced at the first mention of Lizzie Siddal’s name and how casually and beautifully it was woven into the narrative. Nor would it surprise you to know how thrilled I was when Ophelia is mentioned:

“He had been utterly chastened when, a week before, he finally say Millais’s Ophelia at the Tate. That emerald glamour, the astonishing veracity of his bluebells and mashwort! Radbone had never come close to capturing anything like it - and “capture” is what it felt like, that sense of ravishing a live thing, then imprisoning it upon page or canvas.”

Now I feel compelled to end this post; the book is beckoning. I’ll post a lengthier review upon completion!

I am so excited that The Lady of Shalott in now available for purchase on DVD!

The DVD includes:

The DVD includes:
A magical dramatisation of the poem, The Lady of Shalott.
Alfred Tennyson (Ben Poole) reading the poem to an 1856 Christmas audience.
An interview between Ben Poole (Tennyson) and Grace Timmins (TennysonResearch Centre, Lincoln) about Tennyson’s life and work.
Dante Ferrara’s composition for the cittern, La Donna di Shalott.

The DVD is available in both PAL and NTSC formats.

Click to visit the WAG Screen Shop

Copyright 2009, Jack Challem

Once again I must express my gratitude to Jack Challem for sending me such a marvelous image.  Jack was recently in London and just happened across this mural inspired by Rossetti’s The Beloved in the Pimlico Underground
station, which is the nearest stop to the Tate Britain.  See a picture of the original image, painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, below:

Previously, Jack has shared images of Elizabeth Siddal’s grave, a handwriting analysis of both Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal, and a scan of Rossetti and Siddal’s marriage certificate.

After the previous post about the hair pin (also see this post at The Beautiful Necessity)  I spent today collecting images of recurring jewelry in Rossetti paintings.  So far I have:

Bocca Baciata, modeled by Fanny Cornforth.

Rossetti adorned her hair with a lovely white rose and a piece of jewelry that has always looked like an earring (to my modern eyes)  nestled in her hair.

But what I really love is this necklace:

We see the same necklace in Fair Rosamund, also modeled by Fanny

Above is the necklace, this time with a few extra pieces hanging off of it.  Also, Rossetti has paired it with a string of red beads similar to those we see in Girl at a Lattice:

I love to search the paintings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti because he adds so many little details and symbolism.  So, it’s hard not to notice this beautiful spiral-shaped hair clip that seems to have migrated from one canvas to another:

A Christmas Carol:

The Bower Meadow:

Mariana:

Grace at The Beautiful Neccessity also has a post about this delightful piece of jewelry, with several other images.

Arthur's Tomb The Last Meeting of Lancelot and Guinevere, 1854, Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Although not as often as the Lady of Shalott, Guinevere was an Arthurian subject visited by the Pre-Raphaelites.   Medievalism had grown in popularity early in the nineteenth century England and had a definite influence on William Morris especially, who even rode a horse in a toy suit of armor as a child.

It is interesting that the story of Lancelot and Guinevere can be seen as a parallel to the story of William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  Both were entranced by the same woman, and although Jane married William, their triangle was never fully broken.

Morris painted Jane as Guinevere the year before they were wed.  Previously, this painting has been known as La Belle Iseult and is the only known painting by Morris to have survived.  His poem The Defence of Guinevere was quite popular on publication.

Queen Guinevere, painted in 1858 by William Morris

We see Guinevere in her bedchamber.  Her face is stoic while she dresses and the bed-clothes are rumpled enough so that we have little doubt as to the activity that has taken place.

Stained glass window of Guinevere, designed by William Morris:

Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale (mentioned here previously) illustrated Guinevere in Tennyson’s Idylls of the King:

Brickdale shows Guinevere in her old age, living out her days as a nun

One of my favorite images of Guinevere comes from Julia Margaret Cameron, who photographed a series of  Arthurian-themed portraits to illustrate Idylls of the King: