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 Frederic, Lord Leighton’s study for Flaming June sold to an American collector for £167,000 against an estimate of £40,000-60,000. Full article here. Verity Holloway … Read more
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 Behold! The Ransom Center has digitized its Dante Gabriel Rossetti collection. Yesterday, I shared with you about the significance of the number three. One … Read more
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 Tomorrow is Alice’s Day! On the fourth of July in 1862, Charles Lutwidge Dodson began the tale that would eventually become Alice’s Adventures in … Read more
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 Happy #WombatFriday! Our art-loving wombat admires a photograph of Jane Morris. You know wombats are drawn to Jane Morris’ unconventional beauty. Last weekend, … Read more
Happy #WombatFriday! “The wombat is a joy, a triumph, a delight, a madness!”–Dante Gabriel Rossetti This week’s Pre-Raphaelite fun: This week, Terri Windling shared a lovely compilation of Pre-Raphaelite art juxtaposed with American Bluegrass/Celtic music. Guaranteed to add beauty to your day. Monday marked the birthday of artist Sir John Everett Millais, so I shared … Read more
It’s #WombatFriday! Time to celebrate those furry little scamps that were adored by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and friends. 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 … Read more
The marriage of Sir John Everett Millais is often talked about due to its scintillating details. The marriage itself was not scandalous, Millais and his wife Effie seem to have had a happy life together. But the fact that prior to her marriage, Effie was married to critic John Ruskin is a source of infinite … Read more
Dante Gabriel Rossetti had a lifelong enthusiasm for wombats and #WombatFriday is a fun way to celebrate that. Yes it is silly, but it also encourages participation. From the beginning, my favorite thing about Wombat Friday is how many people have come along for the ride. I guess my claim to fame is that on … Read more
This week marks the birth of William Shakespeare, so in celebration I shared several Pre-Raphaelite and Shakespeare related links on the Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood Facebook page and Twitter. “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, … Read more
“The Wombat is a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness!” ~ Dante Gabriel Rossetti Once again, regular readers will know that Friday means #WombatFriday! A day of celebrating the Pre-Raphaelites with silliness and a spirit of fun. Artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti had a lifelong love for wombats and his enthusiasm for them spread among … Read more
Happy Wombat Friday! This week, our hero the wombat admires Waterhouse’s Flora and the Zephyrs, which can be seen in the previous post The Winds of Waterhouse. March is coming to an end and #MythicMarch has been wonderful. If you are interested in incorporating the beauty if myth into your home life, you can join … Read more
Happy Wombat Friday! Why Wombat Friday? If the concept of Wombat Friday is new to you, Kirsty Stonell Walker’s post will fill you in. Mythic March continues and I have just shared a post about the beautiful sorceress Circe. And since Circe could be considered monstrous, here’s my previous post on Monstrous Women. Stephanie Stewart-Howard has … Read more
This week marks the beginning of Mythic March, so my posts have been celebrations of mythology and legend: Legendary Armor and The persistence of Myth. If you are interested in incorporating the beauty of myth, fantasy, and fairy tale into your own home, visit my friend Grace’s blog Domythic Bliss. Kirsty Stonell Walker has shared paintings … Read more
Huzzah! Once again it is #WombatFriday. Kirsty Stonell Walker has just written a fabulous post: The Illustrated Tennyson: A Brief History. So, in honor of Kirsty, today’s Wombat Friday has a Tennyson theme. Pictured above, our hero the wombat can be seen with my own illustrated copy of Tennyson and one of my favorite images: … Read more
“Take some more tea,” the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. “I’ve had nothing yet,” Alice replied in an offended tone, “so I can’t take more.” “You mean you can’t take less,” said the Hatter: “it’s very easy to take more than nothing.” This week, I blogged about Lewis Carroll and the Pre-Raphaelites and Alice … Read more
Alice in Wonderland has a strong hold on our popular culture. Over a century has passed since it and the sequel Through the Looking Glass were written and Alice’s strange journeys charm us still. How many times can we reinterpret this book on screen? It seems to be an endless source of inspiration and the … Read more
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
On this day in 1862, Elizabeth Siddal died. In many accounts of her, you will see her death described as suicide. Whether intentional or not, she lost her life due to an overdose of Laudanum. You can read a transcript of the inquest here. The hills grow darker to my sight And thoughts begin … Read more
This week, my website LizzieSiddal.com turned eleven years old! It and Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood are my labor of love and I appreciate your support and your comments, emails, and friendship. Through these sites I have discovered kindred spirits and I am grateful for you all. And thank you to those of you who have befriended me … Read more
Happy Wombat Friday! This week marked the 101st death of Jane Morris. Kirsty Stonell Walker has a gorgeous post on John Collier. Via Cumbria Live: Teenagers bring the poetry of Christina Rossetti to life. The poetry of Christina Rossetti has been reimagined for the stage in The Blood Between Us which will play in the … Read more
Happy #WombatFriday! You can follow Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood on Facebook or Twitter. Posts at Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood this week included Veronica Veronese and Aspecta Medusa, both by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Kirsty Stonell Walker reviewed the catalogue for Art & Soul: Victorians and the Gothic. And took a look at Selfies and self portraits. The William Morris Gallery is … Read more
“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 wall, while she holds the bow with the other hands, as if arrested by the thought of the moment, when she was about to play. In color, I shall make … Read more
It’s Wombat Friday! Our hero the Wombat can be seen here with William Holman Hunt’s Isabella and the Pot of Basil. You can see it and other versions of Isabella in Love, Death, Potted Plants. This week was the anniversary of Agatha Christie’s death, so here’s a post at The Kissed Mouth about Agatha … Read more
I’m particularly happy to welcome Autumn this year, with its crisp breezes and the promise of adventure. Autumn Leaves, painted by Sir John Everett Millais, is a wonderful example of the beauty I find in the season. It is an impressive example of a Pre-Raphaelite twilight and Millais has captured an unmistakable Autumn glow. His … Read more
In The Tempest, Shakespeare tells us the story of Prospero, duke of Milan. Prospero was dethroned by his brother Antonio and abandoned at sea with his three year old daughter Miranda. Eventually they landed on an enchanted island, where the sole inhabitant is the creature Caliban. Prospero works his magic and places Caliban and all … Read more