Inspired by artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s passion for wombats, every Friday is Wombat Friday at Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood. “The Wombat is a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness!” ~ Dante Gabriel Rossetti Happy #WombatFriday! Our art-loving wombat admires a photograph of Jane Morris. You know wombats are drawn to Jane Morris’ unconventional beauty. Last weekend, … Read more
Jane Burden and her sister Bessie were attending a theatre performance when they were spotted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones. When Gabriel asked Jane to model for them, her initial answer was yes–although later she failed to appear. Burne-Jones was apparently able to convince Jane and her family that their intentions were respectable … Read more
You may remember Dutch artist Margje Bijl from my previous blog posts about her project “Reflections on Jane Morris”. If you’re not familiar with her yet, let me introduce you to her. I believe she has an uncanny resemblance with Jane Morris, the Pre-Raphaelite muse who lived from 1839 till 1914. As I described in … Read more
Imagine discovering a double from another century. In 2004, it happened to Dutch artist Margje Bijl. She was given a photograph of Jane Morris by an acquaintance and at first glance thought she was looking at herself. Intrigued by Jane and inspired by their similarity, she has created the project ‘Reflections on Jane Morris’, in … Read more
“I have cropped this picture from the 1874 photo of the Burne-Jones and Morris families. It was not a particularly bright sunny day when the picture was taken (better for reducing harsh contrast and bringing out a wider tonal range) and given the photographic equipment of the time, Jane was probably trying to stay still … Read more
In 1857, Rossetti and a small group of artists that included William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones were working in Oxford, painting the Union Murals. One night, they attended a performance put on by actors from the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Seated in the gallery below were Jane Burden and her sister. Rossetti, struck by Jane’s … Read more
In 1857, Rossetti and a small group of artists that included William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones were working in Oxford, painting the Union Murals for the local debating society. One night they attended a performance by actors from the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Seated in the gallery below were Jane Burden and her sister. Rossetti … Read more
Inspired by artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s passion for wombats, every Friday is Wombat Friday at Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood. “The Wombat is a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness!” – Dante Gabriel Rossetti Thaddeus Fern Diogenes Wombat, known to his closest friends as T-Dub, is a worthy assistant here at Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood. He has an active … Read more
Inspired by artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s passion for wombats, every Friday is Wombat Friday at Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood. “The Wombat is a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness!” ~ Dante Gabriel Rossetti This delightful Rossetti and Jane Morris figurine is available from a company called Department 56. I purchased mine on Amazon: Pandora (For a … Read more
Since finishing Le Morte d’Arthur, I’ve been refreshing my memory and reading all the references I can find regarding Pre-Raphaelite art and Arthurian influences. My first choice was a William Morris biography that I happily stumbled across at a flea market a few years ago. There’s one paragraph in particular that always stands out to … Read more
Evelyn De Morgan, the niece of Pre-Raphaelite artist John Roddam Spencer Stanhope, showed an aptitude for drawing at a young age, taking art lessons by age fifteen and submitting prize-winning studies at both South Kensington and the Slade Schools. When she married ceramicist William De Morgan, the two lovestruck artists forged a bond and dedicated … Read more
Fanny Cornforth was born Sarah Cox, the daughter of a blacksmith in Steyning. Later, she took on the name Fanny in honor of a younger sister who had died at a young age. Though she appears in some of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s most majestic works, Fanny Cornforth is one of the most criticized and misunderstood … Read more
“Rossetti was the planet around which we revolved, we copied his way of speaking. All beautiful women were “stunners” with us. Wombats were the most beautiful of God’s creatures.”–artist Valentine Cameron Prinsep Wombat Friday began in 2013 when, in a moment of frivolity, I posted several pictures of wombats with cake and books in a … Read more
‘See me, and know me as I am.’ At the age of twenty-one, Dante Gabriel Rossetti wrote the short story Hand and Soul, which was published in The Germ, a short-lived magazine created by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Not only does the story offer a glimpse into the young Rossetti’s beliefs and aspirations, it seems to … Read more
“Sit in a room and read — and read and read. And read the right books by the right people. Your mind is brought onto that level, and you have a nice, mild, slow-burning rapture all the time. This realization of life can be a constant realization in your living. When you find an author … Read more
Inspired by artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s passion for wombats, every Friday is Wombat Friday at Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood. “The Wombat is a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness!” – Dante Gabriel Rossetti In Mnemosyne, Dante Gabriel Rossetti painted Jane Morris as the Greek goddess of memory and time. Sadly, time was running out on Rossetti … Read more
Jane Morris was swept into the Pre-Raphaelite world at age eighteen. She was La Belle Iseult to William Morris, who declared “I cannot paint you; but I love you”. Then she was Pandora, Mnemosyne, Astarte Syriaca and other assorted goddesses to Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Years later, after the Pre-Raphaelite bloom had faded from her cheeks, we see Jane on canvas again in Evelyn … Read more
Inspired by artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s passion for wombats, every Friday is Wombat Friday at Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood. “The Wombat is a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness!” – Dante Gabriel Rossetti This has been an exciting week for T-Dub because as I was preparing this blog post, he watched Vertigo for the first time. … Read more
Warning: This post contains spoilers. If you have not seen Vertigo, you might want to back away slowly because I do not want to ruin your experience You have been warned. “Do you believe that someone out of the past, someone dead, can enter and take possession of a living being?”–Gavin Elster to Scottie in … Read more
Inspired by artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s passion for wombats, every Friday is Wombat Friday at Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood. “The Wombat is a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness!” – Dante Gabriel Rossetti T-Dub knows all about Rossetti’s wombats, but today I thought he might like to learn about the rest of the exotic menagerie of … Read more
A beautiful Roman widow plays music beside her husband’s urn. According to Walker Art Gallery, the marble cinerary urn is based on one Rossetti owned and the instruments were from Pompeian wall paintings. While I don’t know exactly which images Rossetti used as his source, I did find this fresco from Pompeii via Wikimedia Commons: Most … Read more
In 1868, Dante Gabriel Rossetti painted Jane Morris as La Pia de Tolomei, who appears in Canto V of Purgatorio in the Divine Comedy. Pia’s story is a heartbreaking. Dante encountered her during his journey through Purgatory, where she remains since she has died without absolution. She says to Dante “remember me, the one who is Pia; Siena made … Read more
Inspired by artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s passion for wombats, every Friday is Wombat Friday at Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood. “The Wombat is a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness!” – Dante Gabriel Rossetti Thaddeus Fern Diogenes Wombat has been poring over Rossetti paintings in order to be the best Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood assistant he can be. He’s … Read more
Today begins the forty-second year of ME! ‘Tis my birthday! In Ulysses, Tennyson said ‘I am a part of all that I have met’ and I believe that to be true. Our experiences add to our depth and the people and things I’ve met in life are part of my story, including the art and … Read more
Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s sonnet Life-in-Love fascinates me, especially when read with knowledge of two great loves in his life: Elizabeth Siddal and Jane Morris. The first two lines suggest that his deceased lover’s life has somehow migrated into the body of his new love: Not in thy body is thy life at all/But in … Read more