To the ancient Greeks, they were tears of the gods. My grandmother’s akoya pearls are the most precious piece of jewelry I own, beside my wedding ring. Apart from their sentimental value, they have a gorgeous lustre and have aged quite well. Pearls appear front and center in Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Belcolore: And in Fanny … Read more
Last week I shared an account of Burne-Jones and Rossetti and their fascination with that delightful creature, the wombat. Today I share another contemporary account of Rossetti and his strange collection of animals. Alas, no mention of the beloved wombat, but it is an interesting account of Rossetti and his menagerie. From The Story of … Read more
Happy Wombat Friday! With brownies! Georgiana Burne-Jones writes about Rossetti’s interest in wombats in Memorials of Burne-Jones, vol. I: “Mr. Prinsep says that the windows in the spaces they were painting were whitened in order to tone the light, and that the whitened glass was covered all over with sketches, chiefly of … Read more
Today I have been contemplating this passage from The Memorials of Burne-Jones: “All the actual study of painting that Edward did with Rossetti was a few mornings’ work in his studio, but what he learnt from him was far more than painting. “He taught me to have no fear or shame of my own ideas, … Read more
I received a package this week that was so lovely, I had to incorporate it into Wombat Friday. Thank you to Jo Secondo for sending me a vintage copy of The Macdonald Sisters, beautifully wrapped in William Morris paper and with a Rossetti card!
New images added to the Unexpected Pre-Raphaelite Sightings page! Thank you to Alexandrion Drallipo for discovering these images. William Morris’ Larkspur wallpaper in Finding Neverland: William Morris’ Willow pattern wallpaper in the TV series Justified: William Morris Windrush wallpaper in Django Unchained: Thank you to Lisa Gill for noticing The Crystal Ball by … Read more
It has been a difficult week. So many troubling stories in the news. The Pre-Raphaelites had it right when they sought to include nature in their works, for today this simple, cheerful flower has boosted my mood. Happy Wombat Friday! “Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we … Read more
It’s my first giveaway! And what a giveaway it is! One lucky reader will receive these three gorgeous blank journals. Designed by Brigid Ashwood, each journal is a 6X9 paperback with 200 pages. Pages are lined on one side, blank on the other. Journals are available for purchase here. To enter, simply post a comment … Read more
Happy Easter! Pictured in the background is Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s ‘The Girlhood of Mary Virgin‘, Rossetti’s first oil painting and the first work to bear the inscription ‘PRB’. His models for this work were his mother, Frances Polidori Rossetti, and sister Christina. For new readers, here’s an explanation of Wombat Friday and don’t miss this post at … Read more
When Psyche is distraught over the loss of her love Eros, she attempts suicide in a river. She survives and the god Pan offers her comfort and advice. Burne-Jones painted this version of Pan and Psyche after his lover, Maria Zambaco, attempted to throw herself in Regent’s Canal in an ugly and embarrassing scene. It … Read more
I love how names from ancient mythology still permeate our language. They do not shrivel and fall away. They persist. Today we use the word psyche to sum up everything that we are. It is our soul, our mind. It is both our conscious and unconscious. Our subconscious fears and troubles lurk in our psyche. … Read more
Head on over to The Kissed Mouth where Kirsty is having a Wildish Wombat Friday in honor of Robert Parry’s new book.
Pre-Raphaelite art has its critics. I feel like many of them don’t actually look at the paintings or consider an artist’s individual work. They give it a cursory glance, assume that it’s all sentimentality and languorous women and then promptly dismiss it. A similar reaction takes place when people think of mythic fiction and fantasy, … Read more
Today I contemplate the floating head of Orpheus. Proper blog post forthcoming, but in the meantime I am pondering myth, beauty and violence. Just like real life, the beautiful and the grotesque often coincide.
Wombats can participate in Mythic March too, you know. Pre-Raphaelites and Fairy Tales are a perfect combination. Beauty, magic, perhaps a hint of danger. So today’s Wombat Friday is all about celebrating Fairy Tales. But first, you have to welcome Kirsty, who shares her first Wombat Friday post at The Kissed Mouth. Now, for your … Read more
A few weeks ago, Grace Nuth posted a beautiful and brilliant idea at Domythic Bliss. In her first post introducing the concept of Mythic March, Grace describes the birth of a simple idea between friends. A seed sown during a message between her and Lisa Stock grew into an alternative to NaNoWriMo, with an emphasis on … Read more
Why did this week fly by so fast? I’ve been quite busy finishing up The Life and Letters of Sir John Everett Millais and will have a new page up soon. Also, lots of T Shirt sales this week! Thank you very much. I’m always thrilled and grateful when someone buys a shirt. Several of … Read more
About a year ago, I was lucky enough to acquire a two volume set of The Life and Letters of Sir John Everett Millais, written by his son in 1898. It’s a beautiful set that I’ve longed to own, but was unable to give it the attention it deserves as my husband was still recuperating … Read more
I’ve just updated the Ophelia page at LizzieSiddal.com. I’ve transcribed text relating to Ophelia from The Life and Letters of Sir John Everett Millais. I have more updates planned over the weekend, but for now, Ophelia has happily dominated my evening.
A few weeks ago, on a whim, I celebrated the fact that it was Friday by posting a photo of a wombat. Then the lovely Madeleine Pearce (@nouveaudigital) tweeted the hashtag #wombatfriday, probably not realizing that she is only encouraging my childish antics and now I can not stop. This week, the wombat brushes up … Read more
I’ve been quite busy this week. I’m working on a post about White Rose and the Red for LizzieSiddal.com. Written by modernist HD, White Rose and the Red is a fictional account of Elizabeth Siddal’s life. To be honest, when I first read it, I did not enjoy it. I felt mentally exhausted. But, after … Read more
First Major Exhibition on Pre-Raphaelite Art and Design in United States on View at National Gallery of Art, Washington February 17–May 19, 2013 Can you feel my excitement? I am beyond giddy and while I do not know yet when I’ll be able to make the trip to D.C., I can not wait to get … Read more
Here at Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, Fridays are for wombats. “The Wombat is a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness!” ~ Dante Gabriel Rossetti You simply must read ‘Rossetti’s Wombat’ at Pre-Raphernalia.
My interest in Dame Ellen Terry takes me to a period a bit later than the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Born into an acting family, Terry married painter George Frederic Watts when she was sixteen which introduced her to the likes of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Tennyson and other luminaries of the Victorian era. I recently read her … Read more