Interesting Facts About Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Who is Dante Gabriel Rossetti?

Dante Gabriel Rossetti is one of the most famous of the talented Rossetti artists. He was a poet and painter. Rossetti was a co-founder of the first phase of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the inspiration behind the second phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. The Brotherhood sought “to do battle against the frivolous art of the day”.

Here 11 interesting facts about Dante Gabriel Rossetti:

1. Rossetti comes from a talented Italian family.
2. “Dante” was not his first name.
3. He met his wife, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Siddal when she was modeling for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1849.
4. His relationship with the sickly Siddal was loving but tumultuous.
5. He had three other muses after Siddal: Franny Cornforth, Jane Morris, and Alexa Wilding.
6. He had a fascination with exotic birds and animals.
7. He was very sensitive to criticism.
8. At the end of his career, he started using oil colors.
9. His introduction to more seasoned art helped him establish the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
10. Rossetti inspired various youthful artists who proceed to turn out to be significant in the British art world.
11. One of his best friends was, actually, his sister, Christina Rossetti.

Rossetti comes from a talented Italian family.

Although born in London, Rossetti came from an Italian family. Under their aristocratic lineage, Rossetti’s father, Gabriele, was a statesman, as well as a poet. His revolutionary motions and nationalist views required him to retire into a political refugee in 1821. He subsequently moved to London, where his four children were later born.

His siblings include poet and author Christina Rossetti, editor and art critic William Rossetti, and author and eventual nun Maria Francesca Rossetti. Alongside his three kin, who all proceeded to become prominent artistic and scholarly figures, Rossetti got amazing training, learning at the King's College School. In the wake of leaving the Academy, he joined the Antique School at the Royal Academy for a long time.

This preparation furnished Rossetti with the devices he would require in his profession as an artist and poet. He had acquired his father's adoration for the poetry and delivered interpretations of Dante's La Vita Nuova at a youthful age. He likewise recited a medieval verse, for example, Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and William Blake. He was highly motivated by Blake's paintings and composition.

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“Dante” was not his first name.

His complete name was Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti, and his parents and his close friends called him Gabriel.

He placed the title “Dante” in publications, maybe to give praise to Alighieri, whose compositions would inspire Rossetti’s paintings and poems toward the mystical and symbolic arts.

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He met his wife, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Siddal when she was modeling for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1849.

She eventually modeled exclusively for Rossetti, becoming the subject and inspiration of several of his most well-known paintings, such as Beata Beatrix (1863).

Siddal's long exquisite face and figure gleamed against the blazing brilliance of her red hair, and her appearance is often one compared to goddesses. They were married in 1860, Siddal began to study painting with Rossetti. She was an accomplished painter herself.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Most Famous Paintings

 

His relationship with the sickly Siddal was loving but tumultuous.

Between 1849 and 1860, Rossetti and Siddal got engaged several times, only for him to break it off at the last minute due to several affairs.

He was so deeply devoted to her that he buried his only copy containing all of his poems up to that point with her when she died in 1862 due to an overdose of laudanum, a form of powdered opium. Later in life, he had her body exhumed to retrieve the manuscript. This act haunted him until his death.

 

The Girlhood of Mary Virgin by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The Girlhood of Mary Virgin was the first oil painting to be exhibited.

 

He had three other muses after Siddal: Franny Cornforth, Jane Morris, and Alexa Wilding.

Exclusive Alexa Wilding was the only woman who wasn't romantically involved with Rossetti, though she modeled for more of his paintings than anyone else. Rossetti introduced Jane Burden to her future husband William Morris, who genuinely cherished Rossetti and his works.

Nevertheless, Rossetti ended up having an affair with Jane. There is some indication that Morris may have known about the affair and condoned it to an extent. Franny Cornforth was the last model he romantic relationships with.

 

He had a fascination with exotic birds and animals.

After Siddal passed away, Rossetti lived for 20 years at Cheyne Walk, where he encircled himself with a menagerie that included llamas, toucans, and wombats which are his favorite animals. It was said that he taught a toucan to ride the llama around the dining table while wearing a cowboy hat.

 

He was very sensitive to criticism.

When his composition, Ecce Ancilla Domini was displayed in 1850, the harsh criticism it received made Rossetti decide to take up watercolors as a medium and stopped showcasing his paintings at exhibits. In 1870, he published a volume of poetry directly titled Poems, some of which were from the script taken from Siddal’s coffin.

These were enthusiastically received by most critics, except “Thomas Maitland”, who solely singled out his composition and criticized as a copy of the “the Fleshly School of Poetry.” And though Rossetti issued a counterattack called “The Stealthy School of Criticism".

 

The Day Dream by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Initially, Rossetti wanted to name this painting Monna Primavera.

 

At the end of his career, he started using oil colors.

Toward the start and end of his profession, Rossetti painted chiefly with oil, yet the best lump of his work is watercolor. Although his catholic foundation implied that he favored strict religious topics, Rossetti additionally portrayed scenes from writing, nature, and most famously, portraits.

Rossetti's work is ordinarily portrayed by his utilization of thick color and his endeavors to catch reality. Propelled by the extravagance of Medieval strict style painting. He was also inspired by Italian Renaissance artists, he filled his art pieces with symbolic items and guaranteeing that the individuals he depicted looked realistic.

 

His introduction to more seasoned art helped him establish the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

His recognition with Romantic and Medieval verse and arts gave him a thankfulness for love, in both visual and scholarly art. Therefore, alongside his companions William Holman Hunt and John Millais, he established the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

The gathering of seven artists concurred that their work should endeavor to recreate nature and it ought to consistently be saturated with a feeling of profound quality. Two years after establishing the Brotherhood, Rossetti displayed his 'Ecce Ancilla Domina' in 1850.

The piece got critical commentary on it, which the artist found so vexing that he quit introducing his paintings openly. It was then that he started to utilize watercolors, as a less expensive and increasingly expendable option in contrast to oils. The critic also incited Rossetti to investigate more non-Biblical themes and he spent years delineating famous scenes from Shakespeare, Dante, and Sir Thomas Malory.

 

Rossetti inspired various youthful artists who proceed to turn out to be significant in the British art world.

Considered as a real part of the early individuals from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were youthful artists: William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones.

Under Rossetti's administration, they set out on another influx of pre-Raphaelitism movement which grasped more nature greatness and endeavored to grow the develop various styles of painting. Over the next years, they created epic paintings of the Arthurian legends.

 

One of his best friends was, actually, his sister, Christina Rossetti.

Alongside his pre-Raphaelite brothers, Rossetti likewise had his sister for help. His youthful sister Christina composed both sentimental and strict verses for grown-ups and children.

 

The Beloved by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

 

The painting symbolizes the Songs of Solomon. In the portrait, the heroine shown in the picture is caught on movement, and she is lifting her veil.

 

While quite a bit of Rossetti's art is held by British organizations, for example, the Tate Britain in London, his pieces have consistently been popular with private authorities as well. For instance, the assortment of the artist L.S. Lowry was fundamentally worked around Rossetti's paintings and representations.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Paintings

  

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