“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.” – Jean Cocteau
I recently visited The Rise of Every Day Design: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain and America, which is currently running at The Harry…
‘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…
T-Dub, resident wombat at Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, is craving lemons. The source of his delight can be traced to the symbolic details found in Dante Gabriel…
T-Dub, trusty sidekick to Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, has been reading about what life was like in Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s home. You know what he was interested…
Like a sommelier pairing wine with food, I like to layer my life with a delicious, yet distinctive, blend of art. Sometimes the perfect mix…
When Waterhouse’s exquisite Hylas and the Nymphs was controversially removed from exhibition at the Manchester Art Gallery recently, I wrote that it would be far more…
The Somnambulist by Sir John Everett Millais is a captivating image and many speculate that it is inspired by the Wilkie Collins novel The Woman in…
Medusa was once a beautiful maiden who was transformed by the goddess Athena into a Gorgon. Of all three Gorgons, Medusa alone was mortal. Her…
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…
I find Autumn to be healing. Life takes on a distinctive flavor and the speed may be different, but the possibilities are endless. It’s an…
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…
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…
The Portrait is a poem I’ve wanted to write about for a while now, because writing about things is how I unpack and explore them.…
In 1868, Dante Gabriel Rossetti painted Jane Morris as La Pia de Tolomei. Pia appears in Canto V of Purgatorio in the Divine Comedy. Pia’s story is a…
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. …
In 1865, Dante Gabriel Rossetti orchestrated a series of images of Jane Morris to be photographed by John Robert Parsons. While they are all interesting…
Early Death by Elizabeth Siddal Oh grieve not with thy bitter tears The life that passes fast; The gates of heaven will open wide And…
I’ve been re-reading Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Family Letters, edited by his brother William Michael Rossetti. I was struck by this passage about DGR’s reading habits.…
Friends sometimes say it’s strange that I can simultaneously be optimistic and bubbly while also being captivated by art filled with melancholy and death. I’m not sure how to answer except to say that I consciously choose to embrace life to the fullest and believe that my positive…
Today marks the anniversary of Rossetti’s birth in 1828. A founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Rossetti’s works capture his unique view of beauty. His…
“The girl is in a sort of passionate reverie, and is drawing her hand listlessly along the strings of a violin which hangs against the…
Iconic Pre-Raphaelite paintings like Millias’ Ophelia, Rossetti’s Proserpine, or practically any Lady of Shalott garner a lot of attention. (Rightly so.) Of course, there are…
I’ve seen Pre-Raphaelite paintings of women dismissed as ‘languid’ or ‘vapid’ and many critics view them as sensual images created solely for the male gaze.…
