There have been many times in my life when I’ve seen models or actresses and compared my own looks to them and realized I don’t measure up. I will never measure up. What I don’t measure up to is a myth. That idea of perfection is not a harmless fairy tale, it’s a monster that preys on us. It both…
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The Witch’s Heart
This morning I shared on the Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood Facebook page Edward Poynter’s portrait of Georgiana Burne-Jones, wife of Sir Edward Burne-Jones who was an important figure in the second wave of Pre-Raphaelitism. In ‘The Last Pre-Raphaelite’ biographer Fiona MacCarthy describes the watch Georgie’s wearing on a chain as a “ball-shaped gold watch studded with chrysolites bought for her by Burne-Jones…
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La Mandolinata
La Mandolinata is an excellent example of opulence in jewelry in Rossetti’s work. Complementing her brocade gown, we see that familiar spiral hair pin set among strands of pearls. (I love pearls in Pre-Raphaelite art. See The Pursuit of Pearls and More Pre-Raphaelite Pearls) The necklace is similar in style to the one seen in Rossetti’s Bocca Baciata and Fair Rosamund,…
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More Pre-Raphaelite Pearls
Pearls adorn Love’s Shadow by Frederick Sandys A pearl rosary in the background of Kate Bunce’s The Keepsake: Large pearls are strung at intervals in Helen’s necklace (Helen of Troy, Dante Gabriel Rossetti) Three pearls suspended from a brooch in The Pale Complexion of True Love by Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale:
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The Pursuit of Pearls
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 Cornforth’s hair in Rossetti’s Bocca…
