Birds in the works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti

While from the quivering bough the bird expands His wings. And lo! thy spirit understands (from A Vision of Fiammetta, Dante Gabriel Rossetti) Birds appear frequently in both Rossetti’s paintings and poems.  In the late 1860s, after his wife Elizabeth Siddal’s  death, Rossetti began to be plagued by health and mental problems. A chaffinch landed … Read more

Pre-Raphaelite Sighting in Deception

An exciting new addition to the Unexpected Pre-Raphaelite Sightings page! Thank you to Victoria Osborne for sharing. The 2013 thriller The Best Offer (Deception) stars Geoffrey Rush as an eccentric art auctioneer with a secret collection of portraits of beautiful women – including Burne-Jones’ Vespertina Quies and one of Birmingham Museums’ Rossetti drawings of Fanny Cornforth. Pre-Raphaelite beauties … Read more

ABC’s Forever

Forever has become a show that our entire family watches together. I love the premise: A 200-year-old man works in the New York City Morgue trying to find a key to unlock the curse of his immortality.  Ioan Gruffud is on point every episode. His character, Henry Morgan, is dapper, elegant, and has a  Sherlockian … Read more

Pre-Raphaelites and the Bard

If you are looking for Shakespeare inspiration today, you are in luck!  Visit happybirthdayshakespeare.com for a large collective of bloggers sharing posts in honor of the day! At the end of this post, you will find links to other Pre-Raphaelite images of Shakespearean works on PreRaphaeliteSisterhood.com. In celebration of the Bard’s birthday, here’s my favorite Shakespearean … Read more

Waterhouse Signatures

Above is a version of John William Waterhouse’s The Flower Picker.   In J.W. Waterhouse (2002, Phaidon Press), author Peter Trippi tells us that Waterhouse painted at least four versions of this work. “Waterhouse employed looser handling to make at least four depictions of a girl leaning over a fence to pick flowers.  There is no evidence … Read more

The Mystery of Fanny Cornforth

Once again, it’s #WombatFriday!  This week, I am sharing a story with you because for Pre-Raphaelite enthusiasts, this is a profound discovery. Fanny Cornforth was a frequent model for for Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  Historically, biographers have written more about his models Elizabeth Siddal and Jane Morris, leaving Fanny to the sidelines. Her past as a prostitute … Read more

Monstrous Women

I was recently in a bookstore that had a special section devoted to boxed sets of books packaged with their movie adaptation. A little girl picked up Frankenstein and handed it to her mother, who rolled her eyes. “You don’t want that. That’s for boys.” I assume the mother had never heard of Mary Shelley. … Read more

Miss Beatrice Buckstone

Beatrice Buckstone posed for three of Millais’ works.   She was the granddaughter of actor/comedian John Baldwin Buckstone.  Finding Shakespeare has an interesting post showing Buckstone’s guestbook signature on his visit to the Bard’s birthplace, along with biographical information about the actor.  Millais’ son wrote about her in The Life and Letters of Sir John … Read more

King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid

Sir Edward Burne-Jones’ painting King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid is based on the story of an African King who had never felt any attraction towards women until he spotted a beggar woman. In this tale of love at first sight, King Cophetua declares that despite her low social standing, she will be his queen. … Read more

Pre-Raphaelite work spotted in Seinfeld

I’ve added a new entry to the Unexpected Sightings page. ‘Reverie’ by Dante Gabriel Rossetti can be seen in the background of NBC sitcom  Seinfeld.  This is Mr. Pitt’s apartment, where the character Elaine works as Mr. Pitt’s personal assistant.  Sixth episode of the sixth season of Seinfeld, titled ‘The Gymnast’. To see Pre-Raphaelite works … Read more

Pyramus and Thisbe

The tale of Thisbe comes from book four of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In ancient Babylon, the families of Pyramus and Thisbe live in separate houses that share a roof. Over time, the two youths fall in love but are forbidden by their parents to see each other. Undaunted, the lovers use a crack in the wall … Read more

Exploring Rossetti’s Home

“I was ushered into one of the prettiest and most curiously furnished old-fashioned parlours that I had ever seen. Mirrors and looking-glasses of all shapes, sizes and design lined the walls. Whichever way I looked I saw myself gazing at myself.”–Recollections of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his circle (Cheyne walk life), Henry Treffry Dunn. Henry … Read more

Exploring the Beauty of Melancholy

“Our sweetest songs are those that tell of the saddest thought” –Percy Bysshe Shelley At what point in human history did we decide that in music, a slow tempo is sad while upbeat music with a faster beat is happy?  Instinctively we have always known that certain music and art reflects a sense of melancholy.  While … Read more

Shades of Dante

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Victorian poet, painter and co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, grew up in the shadow of Dante Alighieri.  Although he lived several centuries before, Medieval poet Alighieri was a permanent fixture in the Rossetti household. Rossetti’s father, Professor Gabriele Rossetti, was an Italian expatriate who came to London in 1824. He was a … Read more

Poppies: Sleep, Death, Remembrance

The Tower of London is marking the centenary of World War I with a breathtaking art installation called Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red by artist Paul Cummins. The installation will include total of 888,246 ceramic poppies, each flower representing a British military fatality from WWI.   The tradition of using poppies for remembrance of those … Read more

Book review: That Summer by Lauren Willig

That Summer was tremendous fun to read, especially if you have an interest in the Pre-Raphaelites.  Lauren Willig adroitly weaves together two tales that take place in two different time periods:  one in 1849, the other in 2009. In 2009, Julia Conley unexpectedly inherits a house outside of London.  Herne Hill is a family home … Read more

Love, Death and Potted Plants

William Holman Hunt’s Isabella and the Pot of Basil is currently in the news with the recent announcement that the Delaware Art museum will be auctioning the painting tomorrow.  The work has been in their collection since 1947 and it is sad news indeed that the Delaware has to sell it and three other works … Read more

What is the “Pre-Raphaelite Woman”?

florence and the machine

Women are central figures in Pre-Raphaelite art, and this has given rise to the concept of a “Pre-Raphaelite Woman.” I frequently see the term in the media, usually describing an actress or singer with long curly hair. Florence Welch is often described as Pre-Raphaelite, a look she has embraced. But was there a unified ideal? If we look … Read more

Skeletons in the Closet: A Look at Bluebeard

Fatima was painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones in 1862 and depicts the last wife of Bluebeard, the ancient serial killer who has the bodies of his previous wives hidden away. Written by Charles Perrault, the story of Bluebeard was originally published in 1697. Bluebeard hails from the days when children’s tales were gruesome, often cautionary, tales. … Read more

Who is The Blessed Damozel?

The Poem:  Drawing inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven, Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s The Blessed Damozel explores the theme of lovers separated by death. Like Poe’s Lenore, the damozel (an archaic form of damsel) has died and Rossetti introduces her to us as she looks down upon her lover from heaven. Rossetti later told Hall … Read more

Pre-Raphaelite Princess of Star Wars

When Time magazine asked George Lucas about the unusual hairstyle he created for Star Wars character Princess Leia, he answered: In the 1977 film, I was working very hard to create something different that wasn’t fashion, so I went with a kind of Southwestern Pancho Villa woman revolutionary look, which is what that is. The … Read more