Thank you, Lizzie Siddal

Photograph of Elizabeth Siddal

Today marks the birth of the woman who has had a deep and lasting influence on my life. Despite never actually meeting her, I know her face as well as my own. Through her art, poetry, and the Pre-Raphaelite works she appears in, Elizabeth Siddal has the power to captivate. The story of her life … Read more

Elizabeth Siddal

Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet Elizabeth Siddal began her career as an artist’s model  In 1849, Elizabeth Siddal was working at Mrs. Tozer’s hat shop when she was introduced to the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. One anecdote states she was discovered by Walter Deverell, who painted her as Viola/Cesario in his painting Twelfth Night. Another tale says … Read more

#WombatFriday: Description of Lizzie Siddal

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 When we read about Elizabeth Siddal, it is quite often an account written with shades of sadness and melancholy, which is understandable as … Read more

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth Siddal!

The hills grow darker to my sight And thoughts begin to swim. (from Elizabeth Siddal’s poem At Last) Lizzie was discovered in millinery shop, a simple girl who was tall for the time and had a mass of red-gold hair. Her first sitting was for Walter Deverell’s Twelfth Night. On this day in 1829, Elizabeth Eleanor … Read more

The Faces of Elizabeth Siddal

Elizabeth Siddal made great contributions to the Pre-Raphaelite movement; she appears in a number of important works.  After posing for Deverell, Holman Hunt, Millais, and Rossetti she bravely moved to the other side of the easel and became a Pre-Raphaelite artist in her own right.   She has fascinated me throughout my adulthood and today I’d … Read more

Elizabeth Siddal and Sylvia Plath are not your Suicide Girls

Saturday was the anniversary of Elizabeth Siddal’s death in 1862 and Sylvia Plath’s suicide in 1963. Both poets garner a lot of attention when February eleventh rolls around, and rightly so, because their lives and their work are important and should never be forgotten. Both poets have touched my life and I find it heartwarming … Read more

Lizzie Siddal: Love and Hate

Ophelia, Sir John Everett Millais

Many people hear about Elizabeth Siddal through dramatic anecdotes of her life, such as the serious illness she suffered as a result of  posing in a bathtub for Sir John Everett Millais’ Ophelia (above). In 1860 she married artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and died a mere two years later of a laudanum overdose.  The fact … Read more

What shapes our perception of Elizabeth Siddal?

Photograph of Elizabeth Siddal

 For those of us who admire Pre-Raphaelite art, Elizabeth Siddal is a familiar face.  Her story is repeated often and frequently embellished.  When beginning to research the life of Elizabeth Siddal, readers will invariably encounter this description of her written by poet William Allingham in his diary: “Short, sad, and strange her life; it must … Read more

#PRBday: The Faces of Elizabeth Siddal

Elizabeth Siddal made great contributions to the Pre-Raphaelite movement; she appears in a number of important works.  After posing for Deverell, Holman Hunt, Millais, and Rossetti she bravely moved to the other side of the easel and became a Pre-Raphaelite artist in her own right.   Since she has fascinated me throughout my adulthood, I think … Read more

Did Elizabeth Siddal inspire Bram Stoker?

Photograph of Elizabeth Siddal

In the early years of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, artist Walter Deverell discovered Elizabeth Siddal working in a millinery shop.  After modeling for his painting Twelfth Night, Siddal posed for several Pre-Raphaelite painters, including William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. It was the artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti who was most captivated by her. He drew … Read more

A Lizzie Siddal Wombat Friday

Tomorrow marks the birth of Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal on the 25th of July, 1829.  Lizzie was an artists’ model in the early days of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, appearing in paintings by artists such as Walter Deverell, William Holman Hunt, and Sir John Everett Millais.  She became Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s muse and eventually posed only for … Read more

#WombatFriday: Lizzie Siddal, Valentine’s, Friday the 13th

Happy  Wombat Friday!  You can follow Pre-Rapahelite Sisterhood on Facebook and Twitter. This week our hero the wombat appears with two book recommendations: The Legend of Elizabeth Siddal by Jan Marsh (nonfiction) A Curl of Copper and Pearl by Kirsty Stonell Walker (fiction) Wednesday marked the anniversary of Elizabeth Siddal’s death.  In Dim Phantoms I talk … Read more

Lizzie Siddal: A New Play by Jeremy Green

Copperhead Productions and Peter Huntley Productions present THE WORLD PREMIERE OF LIZZIE SIDDAL A NEW PLAY BY JEREMY GREEN AT THE ARCOLA THEATRE from Wednesday 20 November – Saturday 21 December 2013 The Victorian art world. ‘To yearn for something – doesn’t that make life more intense?’ Lizzie Siddal, a new play about the woman … Read more

Link Love: ‘Salutation of Beatrice’, Madox Brown’s grave, Elizabeth Siddal’s ‘True Love’

Via Dinah Roe’s twitter (@preraphsrule):  Audio.  Peter Brown, Director of Victorian & British Impressionist Art, Christie’s, discusses Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s The Salutation of Beatrice. Islington Tribune: Ford Madox Brown relative joins campaign to clean up Pre-Raphaelite artist’s grave Beautiful, moving, haunting.  Valerie Meachum reads Elizabeth Siddal’s poem ‘True Love’. (If you are reading this through … Read more

Special event at Highgate Cemetery for the 150th anniversary of Lizzie Siddal’s death.

February 11th is the 150th anniversary of Lizzie’s death. To commemorate this, Highgate Cemetery (Lizzie’s final resting place) is having a Talk at the cemetery on that day by Lucinda Hawksley, author of Lizzie Siddal: Face of the Pre-Raphaelites.  Being in the U.S., I will not be able to attend but my ever-faithful friend Kirsty … Read more

Pre-Raphaelite Marriages: Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal

I’ve spent years reading about the relationship between Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal.  One thing I’ve noticed through comments and emails I receive at lizziesiddal.com is that there are a lot of people who are so sympathetic towards Lizzie that they passionately hate Rossetti.  When you learn about people, I think a story forms … Read more