For the November book selection, I’ve chosen The Wood Beyond the World and The Well at the World’s End, both by William Morris. This differs a bit; my past classic selections were books read by Pre-Raphaelite artists. These are later works(1894 and1896) and are not the subject of any Pre-Raphaelite paintings. We’re heading into winter … Read more
If you are reading Mortal Love along with us, you may have noticed that part one of the book is titled The Green Girl. It strikes me as such a perfect phrase when dealing with anything that even remotely alludes to the Pre-Raphaelites. This post isn’t really about Mortal Love, I’ll save that for later. … Read more
I’m lucky enough to have regular readers here at Pre-raphaelite Sisterhood and several lovely followers on the accompanying Facebook page. The Facebook page has been convenient for me, especially since my daily schedule has been different over the summer and I haven’t posted as much here as I would have liked. Plus, the facebook page … Read more
In my previous post, I mentioned Rossetti’s doppelganger painting, How They Met Themselves. I wanted to share his drawing of it above, because I prefer it to the painting. This is an ink and wash on paper and is not his original drawing, which I believe was lost. Rossetti referred to it as his ‘Bogie’ … Read more
I hope you’ll like the October selection for the Pre-Raphaelite Reading Project. It’s time for a modern book. For those of you new to the reading project, we alternate classic books with modern ones. Mortal Love is an unusual novel by Elizabeth Hand. This is the first time I’ve selected a book that I’ve read … Read more
For the next selection of the Pre-Raphaelite Reading Project, I’ve chosen a work that inspired many Pre-Raphaelite pieces and captured the Victorian imagination: Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. We all know the Arthurian tales, they are embedded in our culture. Every few years it seems as if Hollywood gives us a slick new version of … Read more
Synopsis: “London, 1876. The painter Amos Roselli is in love with his life-long friend and model, the beautiful Daphne – and she with him – until one day she is discovered by another man, a powerful and wealthy industrialist. What will happen when Daphne realises she has sacrificed her happiness to a loveless marriage? What … Read more
Hardly had she finished her prayer when her little limbs grew heavy and sluggish, thin bark enveloped her soft breasts; her hair grew into leaves, her arms into branches. Her feet, which until now had run so swiftly, held fast with clinging roots. Her face was the tree’s top; only her beauty remains. (Classical Mythology, … Read more
Sidonia the Sorceress: I read the first section of Sidonia with gusto, I loved the story and was immersed in Sidonia’s world. However, the latter parts of the book failed to sustain the momentum built up in the beginning. The title describes her as “the supposed destroyer of the whole reigning ducal house of Pomerania” … Read more
In order to delve deeper into my Pre-Raphaelite interest, I’ve decided to devote some time to reading works that inspired the Pre-Raphaelites. If you’d like to read along with me, I’d be delighted. I adore a good book discussion! My first selection is Sidonia the Sorceress. Unable to find a decently priced paperback, I’ve downloaded … Read more
The Cult of Beauty is the V&A Museum’s lavish spring 2011 Exhibition. It showcases beautiful Victorian objects and art from around the world. Use the included audioguide to discover more about the wonderful exhibits on display. Use it when you visit the Exhibit. Or listen at home and enjoy the images of beautiful 19th century … Read more
Who doesn’t love Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven? A masterful poem of mourning, loss and visitation in which the poem’s speaker is grief-stricken with the death of his beloved Lenore and is haunted by memories. Enter the raven with his repetitive message “Nevermore”! Dante Gabriel Rossetti drew his illustration of The Raven around 1848, … Read more
I’ve added a new addition to the Unexpected Pre-Raphaelite Sightings list. The Woman in White starring Tara Fitzgerald and Justine Waddell. Based on the book by Wilkie Collins, this adaptation makes several changes to the story but I still enjoyed it. Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Beata Beatrix is shown and discussed. The exhumation of his … Read more
I am beginning a series of posts that focuses on Pre-Raphaelite representations of Shakespeare’s works. I felt the perfect painting to start with is Walter Howell Deverell’s Twelfth Night, as it is one of the earliest Pre-Raphaelite pictures based upon a Shakespearian play and also happens to be the first painting that includes Elizabeth Siddal … Read more
Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s first published illustration was The Maids of Elfen-Mere, drawn to illustrate a ballad by William Allingham titled “The Maids of Elphin-Mere”. The Rossetti Archive includes it in their collection note: “DGR’s illustration was made for Allingham’s ballad “The Maids of Elfin-Mere”, which was published in The Music Master, A Love Story, and … Read more
I devoured this book. And I know I will not hesitate to devour it again, its hold over me is that strong. It is a story with many layers and a narrative that switches between time periods. I enjoyed it, realizing early on that the story was told in an artistic, disjointed way that appealed … Read more
I’ve seen this book online many times, but when I happened upon it in the library I could not resist its call. How can I not be tempted to read a book with a Rossetti stunner gracing the cover? At this point, I am about 100 pages into the tale. The language is lush and … Read more
St. George and the Princess Sabra was painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1862. This was the last work that his wife, Lizzie Siddal, posed for before her death. I find myself searching her face, as if it were a photograph, looking for signs of what was to occur days later: her overdose of laudanum. The … Read more
The intricate pattern of Sidonia’s gown is amazing. Painted in 1860, Sidonia von Bork is an early watercolor by Burne-Jones and is based on the book Sidonia the Sorceress. Burne-Jones used model Fanny Cornforth (a Rossetti favorite) to portray Sidonia. We see her standing in profile, apparently lost in thought while plotting and scheming. In … Read more
Based on Shakespeare’s Two Gentleman of Verona, this was one of William Holman Hunt’s most successful paintings. Lizzie Siddal, one of my favorite Pre-Raphaelite models, modeled for Sylvia. We can not see her features in this image, though. Hunt repainted them after criticism from John Ruskin. Hunt painted this piece outdoors in the Surrey countryside … Read more
Georgiana MacDonald Burne-Jones (1840-1920) Georgiana MacDonald came from a strict, God-fearing family. Both her father and grandfather were Methodist ministers. According to Jan Marsh in Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, reading the works of Shakespeare and attending the theater were forbidden and considered sinful in their family on the grounds of morality. ‘Georgie’, as she was known, … Read more
Kate Dickens Perugini, daughter of Charles Dickens, served as the model for The Black Brunswicker . The Lady Lever Art Gallery has an extended study of this painting online. Kate, one of the ten children of Dickens, married Pre-Raphaelite artist Charles Allston Collins. Collins’ brother, Wilkie Collins, was the author of The Moonstone and The … Read more
Via Times Online: An exhibition celebrating the Italian origins of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the Pre-Raphaelite painter, and his sister Christina Rossetti, the poet, has opened in the picturesque hilltop Adriatic seaside town of Vasto. The centrepiece of the exhibition of specially loaned paintings, photographs, letters and books at the recently restored Palazzo d’Avalos is Dante … Read more
This page is a work in progress. If you have a sighting to add, please post a comment or post on the Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood Facebook page, send me a tweet on twitter to @preraphsister, or email stephanie@siddal.net. I love Inspector Morse mysteries.I first saw them in the 90s on PBS Mystery! and later on the … Read more
Jan Marsh briefly describes Annie Miller’s childhood in Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood (not associated with this website) as horribly poor and unhygienic, saying that a neighbor had described Annie and her sister as “dirty and covered with vermin”…and that Annie’s hair was particularly “wild and filthy”. Annie’s mother had died some time after her birth, leaving … Read more