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 just comes to me like Athena springing from the brow of Zeus and a theme presents itself as a sort of amuse-bouche of fate. Tonight, it has been a combination of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Theodore von…
-
-
The Bridge of Sighs
The Life and Letters of Sir John Everett Millais is my go-to source when blogging about Millias’ works. Written by his son John Guille Millais, it was published in 1899 as a two-volume set that is filled with biographical information and anecdotes about Millais works, models, and themes. It is an invaluable resource for me and I treasure my copies. One…
- Books, Christina Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, fairy tales, Lewis Carroll, Photography, Pre-Raphaelite Subjects and Themes, wombats
Lewis Carroll and the Pre-Raphaelites
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 fact that it has been…
- Christina Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown, Jane Burden Morris, Pre-Raphaelite Subjects and Themes
Forbidden Fruit
Mauvais Sujet is not your stereotypical, chocolate-box-pretty Victorian portrait. She’s almost uncomfortable to look at, as she is both very young and almost sensual. On her desk you can see her name, Mary, scrawled in a childlike hand. I’m not exactly sure what Madox Brown wants us to feel about her. She’s obviously idle, choosing to partake in the fruit…
- Arthur Hughes, fairy tales, frank codogan cowper, frank dicksee, Keats, La Belle Dame sans Merci, Pre-Raphaelite Subjects and Themes
Alone and palely loitering: La Belle Dame sans Merci
La Belle Dame sans Merci translated from the French means “the beautiful lady without pity” or “the beautiful lady without mercy”. It is possible that the poem is based on the ballad of ‘True Thomas’, also known as ‘Thomas the Rhymer’, which tells how a man was enchanted by the queen of Elfland and lured to her home, where he…
