Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Life and Religious Paintings

Perhaps you have heard about Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who was the central figure of the Pre-Raphaelites? The Pre-Raphaelites were the members of a group of 19th century British artists whose aim was to return to a style of painting of the late Middle Ages. The Pre-Raphaelites loved nature and disliked modern industrial development. Their paintings often show scenes from the Bible or from literature, and they used the bright colours and small details of Italian painting used before the artist Raphael.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born in London. His father was Gabriele Rossetti, who was a professor of Italian at King’s College in London. His brother, William Michael Rossetti, became a famous art critic, and he had two artistic sisters, Maria and Christina.
After studying at Sass’s drawing academy for four years, in 1846 Rossetti was enrolled at the Royal Academy School. But the slow pace of the Academy’s regime lead him to abandon his studies there. In 1848 he met Holman Hunt; through him Rossetti became acquainted with John Millais, and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was born that year. This Brotherhood was formed with seven members, all Royal Academy students except William Michel Rossetti – younger brother of Dante Gabriel.
In 1849, Elizabeth Siddal came into Rossetti’s life. She became the model for most of Rossetti’s completed pictures from this date through to her death. They finally married in 1860, but, unfortunately, she died 2 years later. Of course Dante Gabriel painted a lot of portraits with Elizabeth Siddal such as “Lady Lilith”, “Veronica Veronese” (the art Gallery in Delaware) and “Beata Beatrix” (in the Tate Gallery), which was painted right after her death.
From the middle 1850s to the early 1860s Rossetti was a close friend of Ruskin (an art critic, poet and artist), who also supported him by finding patrons, and buying much of his work. Also in the middle 1850s, William Morris and Edward Coley Burne-Jones came under Rossetti’s influence, and this was the start of a second phase of Pre-Raphaelism.

“Ecce Ancilla Domini”

Rossetti also drew some book illustrations – few in number, but of great influence. He was also an important poet of his time, his best-known poem being “The Blessed Damozel.”
His eye for beauty, choice of subjects and intensity of vision distinguishes Rossetti’s paintings. He painted many pictures on the theme of Dante and Beatrice, and chose other subjects from Italian history and Arthurian tales. His favourite models were Elizabeth Siddal, and later Jane Morris, wife of William Morris.
His principal pictures include “The Girlhood of Mary Virgin” and “Ecce Ancilla Domini”(both at the Tate Gallery) which were his first exhibited Pre-Raphaelite pictures, “Found” (Delaware Art Centre, Wilmington, USA) was the first Pre-Raphaelite attempt to paint contemporary social problems; and there are many portraits based on Jane Morris, such as “Astarte Syriaca” (Manchester), “Proserpine” and “The Day Dream”.
Now I’d like to talk more about Rossetti’s religious works during the existence of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The first work he made in Pre-Raphaelite style was “The Girlhood of Mary Virgin” (1849). The model for Mary was Dante Gabriel’s sister – Christina, and for Mary’s mother – Rossetti’s mother. At first Rossetti wanted to create “The Girlhood of Mary Virgin” as a part of triptych, but it turned out to be too complicated a work for a young painter. In this work the influence of the Nazarenes (German romantic painters of the beginning of 19th century) is noticeable, but it is more lyric and full of picturesque nuances. “The Girlhood of Mary Virgin” shown on exhibition near Hyde Park received a positive review in the press.

“The Girlhood of Mary Virgin”

The next religious work was “Ecce Ancilla Domini!” (“The Annunciation”). For models of Gabriel and Mary served Rossetti’s brother (William Michael) and sister (Christina). In this picture Dante Gabriel specially used a limited range of colours: he made white dominant, which symbolized innocence, he added blue (the colour of Mary) and red (the symbol of Christ’s sacrifice). The painter used a usual plot for the religious painting, but he interpreted it very freely. Mary’s form shows that the annunciation took her unawares. In her look on the lily we see fear and no happiness. Rossetti, who was a well-educated person, built the picture on the double significance of the lily in Italian painting: the first meaning is the symbol of Mary, and the second – the symbol of mourning because of Christ’s death. In such a way, we see the news about the birth and at the same time about the death. Exhibited in 1850, “Ecce Ancilla Domini!” received severe criticism, which Rossetti could never bear with equanimity. In consequence, he ceased to show works in public and gave up oils in favour of watercolours. He also turned from traditional religious themes to scenes from Shakespeare, Robert Browning, and Dante, which allowed more freedom of imaginative treatment.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti started the original Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and was the ‘poetic inspiration’ of the movement.