Christina Rossetti Sister of Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and critic William Michael Rossetti. A talented poet in her own right, Christina can be seen in several early works of her brother’s, namely The Girlhood of the Virgin Mary and Ecce Ancilla Domini. Read more. Elizabeth Siddal Lizzie helped shape the concept of a “Pre-Raphaelite … Read more
Marie Spartali Stillman’s beauty is apparent in works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Sir Edward Burne-Jones, but her talent shines in the exquisite Pre-Raphaelite paintings she herself created. Marie was the daughter of a wealthy Greek cotton merchant; both artistic talent and beauty were family traits. Artists Maria Zambaco and Aglaia Ionides were her cousins. … Read more
The saga of Maria Zambaco is one of the most melodramatic in Pre-Raphaelite lore, which is remarkable given the abundance of tumult that surrounded the Brotherhood. Born into a wealthy Anglo-Greek family, Maria was an accomplished artist who studied under sculptor Auguste Rodin. She also appears in works by several Pre-Raphaelite artists, including Sir Edward … Read more
Modeling rescued young Annie Miller from extreme poverty. After her mother’s death, Annie and her sister were raised by their aunt and uncle. Accounts of her childhood describe it as working class and “filthy.” By her teens, she was a servant and her family struggled to make ends meet. Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt discovered … Read more
Georgiana Burne-Jones was introduced to the Pre-Raphaelite circle through her relationship with the man she would later marry, her childhood sweetheart, Edward Burne-Jones. The daughter of a Methodist minister, Georgie was the fifth out of eleven children. Their upbringing was strict and, according to Jan Marsh in Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, reading the works of Shakespeare and … 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
When the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood formed, they met with resistance and negativity from throughout the art world. Charles Dickens was an especially harsh critic of their work and wrote a scathing review in his magazine Household Words, where he was particularly vicious towards the work of John Everett Millais. Art critic John Ruskin was intrigued by … Read more
Christina Rossetti was born in London to Gabriele Rossetti (Italian poet, scholar and founder of the secret society Carbonari) and Frances Polidori Rossetti (sister to John William Polidori, Lord Byron’s physician, and author of The Vampire). With such erudite antecedents, it’s no wonder that Christina and her siblings were each, in their own way, creative … Read more
When Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti spotted Alexa Wilding on a busy street, he immediately approached her to sit for him. A tall, pretty girl, she feared impropriety and didn’t show up at the agreed time. Never one to admit defeat, Rossetti visited her and her mother to set their fears at rest. From then … 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