Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a name synonymous with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the sensuous, mystical aesthetic that captivated Victorian England, was more than just an artist; he was a force of nature. Born Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti in London on May 12, 1828, his life was intricately woven with threads of artistic genius, intense passions, personal tragedy, and an unwavering dedication to beauty in both its visual and verbal forms. He stands as a pivotal figure, not only in the history of British art but also in the evolution of Victorian poetry, leaving behind a legacy that continues to resonate with its unique blend of medievalism, symbolism, and intense emotionality.
Early Life and Family Influences: A Fertile Ground for Genius
Rossetti’s artistic inclinations were nurtured from his very beginnings. His father, Gabriele Rossetti, an Italian political exile and scholar of Dante, instilled in his children a deep appreciation for Italian literature and culture. His mother, Frances Polidori, was the daughter of another Italian exile, and her calm, devout nature provided a counterpoint to the passionate temperament of her husband. The Rossetti household was a hub of intellectual activity, frequented by Italian patriots and literary figures. This environment immersed young Gabriel and his siblings – Maria Francesca, William Michael, and Christina – in a world of poetry, art, and political idealism.
From a young age, Rossetti showed a precocious talent for both drawing and writing. He devoured literature, particularly the works of Keats, Scott, Byron, and of course, Dante Alighieri. The influence of Dante, in particular, was profound and lifelong, shaping not only his given name but also the thematic preoccupations and artistic sensibilities that would define his career. He was fascinated by the medieval world, by romantic narratives, and by the power of imagery to evoke intense emotion.
Rossetti’s formal education began at King’s College School, but his heart was set on art. In 1841, at the age of thirteen, he began attending Henry Sass’s Drawing Academy, a preparatory school for the Royal Academy Schools. Here, he honed his drawing skills and encountered other aspiring artists. In 1845, he was admitted to the Antique School of the Royal Academy, the prestigious institution that represented the pinnacle of artistic training in Britain at the time. However, Rossetti’s temperament clashed with the rigid academic doctrines of the Academy. He grew disillusioned with the emphasis on technical skill and the perceived artificiality of academic art, yearning for a more sincere and expressive artistic language.
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood: Revolution in Art
This yearning for a new artistic direction found its outlet in the formation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) in 1848. Rossetti, along with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, were the founding members, soon joined by James Collinson, Frederic George Stephens, Thomas Woolner, and Rossetti’s brother, William Michael, who served as the group’s chronicler. The PRB was a youthful rebellion against what they saw as the stale and mannered art that had followed Raphael and the High Renaissance. They sought to return to the perceived purity and sincerity of Italian art before Raphael, drawing inspiration from early Italian and Flemish masters like Fra Angelico, Jan van Eyck, and the artists of the Quattrocento.
The PRB’s manifesto, though never formally codified, revolved around several key principles: to have genuine ideas to express; to study nature attentively, so as to know how to express them; to sympathise with what is direct and serious and heartfelt in previous art, to the exclusion of what is conventional and self-parading and learned by rote; and to produce thoroughly good pictures and statues. They embraced truth to nature, meticulous detail, intense colour, and symbolic imagery, often drawn from literature, mythology, and religious narratives.
Rossetti’s role in the PRB was central, though arguably less defined by rigorous theoretical pronouncements than by his passionate artistic vision and charismatic personality. He was the driving force behind many of the group’s early innovations, particularly in their exploration of medieval themes and their emphasis on emotional and symbolic content. His early paintings, such as The Girlhood of Mary Virgin (1849) and Ecce Ancilla Domini! (The Annunciation, 1850), exemplified the PRB aesthetic with their luminous colours, meticulous detail, and symbolic richness. These works, though initially met with mixed reviews, particularly for their perceived “primitivism” and departure from academic conventions, quickly garnered attention and sparked debate, establishing the PRB as a force to be reckoned with in the art world.
The Painter-Poet: Dual Mastery and Interwoven Arts
While celebrated as a painter, Rossetti also harboured a deep and equally significant literary ambition. He saw poetry and painting as intrinsically linked, two sides of the same artistic coin. He believed that art should appeal to both the eye and the soul, engaging the senses and the intellect in equal measure. This duality is evident throughout his career, with his paintings often inspired by literary sources and his poems imbued with a strong visual sensibility.
From his youth, Rossetti wrote poetry, often translating Italian verse and composing original pieces. His early poems, though less known than his later works, already reveal his characteristic themes and style: a preoccupation with beauty, love, loss, and the spiritual realm, expressed through rich imagery and evocative language. He contributed poems, along with his brother William Michael, to The Germ, the short-lived but influential journal of the PRB, which served as a platform for their artistic and literary ideas.
Rossetti’s poetic style, even in these early stages, was distinct. It leaned towards a romantic, sensual, and melancholic tone, characterized by rich descriptions, symbolic imagery, and a musicality of language. He was deeply influenced by medieval poetry, particularly the Italian dolce stil nuovo and the works of Dante and Petrarch, as well as by English Romantic poets like Keats and Shelley. His poems often explored themes of idealised love, spiritual longing, and the transience of beauty, mirroring the thematic concerns of his paintings.
Elizabeth Siddal and the Muse as Martyr: Love, Loss, and the Buried Poems
A pivotal figure in Rossetti’s life and art was Elizabeth Siddal, a woman of working-class origins whom he met in 1849 and who became his muse, model, and eventually, his wife. Siddal embodied the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of feminine beauty: pale, ethereal, with flowing red hair and a melancholic air. She posed for many of Rossetti’s most famous paintings and for other Pre-Raphaelite artists, becoming the iconic face of the movement.
Their relationship was complex and passionate, marked by both intense affection and considerable turbulence. Siddal was not merely a passive muse; she was an artist in her own right, producing drawings and watercolours of considerable merit, encouraged and mentored by Rossetti. However, she suffered from poor health, likely exacerbated by laudanum addiction, and their engagement stretched for over a decade before they finally married in 1860.
Tragically, their marriage was short-lived. In 1862, Siddal died from an overdose of laudanum, shortly after giving birth to a stillborn child. Rossetti was devastated by her loss. In a dramatic act of grief and remorse, he placed the only manuscript of his collected poems in her coffin, burying them with her in Highgate Cemetery. This act, laden with symbolism and fueled by intense emotion, reveals the profound connection he felt between his art, his life, and his lost love.
The Exhumation and Literary Recognition: Resurrecting the Verse
For several years after Siddal’s death, Rossetti retreated from the public eye, struggling with grief, guilt, and addiction to chloral hydrate, a sedative. However, financial pressures and encouragement from friends eventually led him to a controversial decision. In 1869, seven years after burying them, he had Siddal’s grave exhumed to retrieve the manuscript of his poems. This macabre act, performed under cover of darkness and amidst considerable secrecy, became a defining moment in his biography and sparked both scandal and fascination.
The exhumation proved fruitful. The manuscript was retrieved, though damaged by damp, and after being dried and transcribed, it formed the basis of Rossetti’s first published volume of poems, simply titled Poems (1870). This collection was an immediate sensation, establishing Rossetti as a major poet in his own right. The poems in Poems were intensely personal, reflecting his inner turmoil, his memories of Siddal, and his continuing preoccupation with love, loss, and beauty. Works like “The Blessed Damozel,” “Jenny,” and the sonnet sequence “House of Life” showcased his distinctive style, characterized by rich symbolism, sensual imagery, and a haunting melancholy.
Poems (1870) marked a turning point in Rossetti’s career. He was now recognized not only as a painter but also as a poet of significant stature. The volume went through multiple editions and cemented his reputation as a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement, which emphasized art for art’s sake and the pursuit of beauty as the highest artistic ideal.
Later Life and Artistic Development: The “Stunners” and Declining Health
The success of Poems did not fully alleviate Rossetti’s personal struggles. He continued to battle addiction, depression, and increasingly fragile health. His artistic output, however, remained prolific and evolved in interesting directions. His paintings of this later period, often referred to as “stunners,” became increasingly idealized and sensual, featuring women with elongated necks, flowing hair, and intensely expressive eyes. These works, such as Proserpine (1874), Astarte Syriaca (1877), and La Pia de’ Tolomei (1868-80), are characterized by their rich colours, symbolic details, and a pervasive atmosphere of dreamlike melancholy and otherworldly beauty.
During this time, Rossetti developed close relationships with other women who served as models and muses, most notably Jane Morris, the wife of his friend William Morris, and Alexa Wilding. His relationships with these women, particularly with Jane Morris, were complex and often fraught with emotional intensity. Jane Morris, with her striking beauty and melancholic allure, became a recurring figure in his later paintings, embodying the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of feminine beauty and contributing to the myth of the femme fatale that became associated with Rossetti’s art.
In his later poetry, Rossetti continued to explore themes of love, loss, beauty, and spiritual longing, often within a medieval or mythological framework. He expanded the sonnet sequence “House of Life,” which became a cornerstone of his poetic output, exploring the complexities of love and desire with remarkable psychological depth and sensual imagery. His second volume of poems, Ballads and Sonnets (1881), further solidified his literary reputation and showcased his mastery of form and his ability to evoke powerful emotions through language.
Decline and Legacy: A Lasting Influence
Despite his artistic success and literary acclaim, Rossetti’s final years were marked by declining health, exacerbated by his addiction to chloral hydrate and persistent mental instability. He became increasingly reclusive, his health deteriorated, and he suffered from bouts of paranoia and depression. He died on April 9, 1882, at the age of 53, in Birchington-on-Sea, Kent, and was buried there.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s legacy is multifaceted and profound. He stands as a central figure in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a movement that revolutionized Victorian art and paved the way for subsequent artistic developments, including Symbolism and Aestheticism. His paintings, with their luminous colours, meticulous detail, and symbolic richness, continue to captivate viewers with their otherworldly beauty and emotional intensity.
His poetry, too, has secured a lasting place in literary history. His unique blend of sensuality, symbolism, and melancholy, coupled with his masterful use of form and evocative language, made him a significant voice in Victorian poetry and a precursor to modernist trends. His poems explore universal themes of love, loss, and the human condition with remarkable depth and emotional resonance, continuing to be admired and studied for their artistic merit and their insightful exploration of the human heart.
Beyond his individual works, Rossetti’s broader influence extends to the very fabric of Victorian culture. He helped to shape the aesthetic sensibilities of his era, contributing to the rise of the Aesthetic movement and its emphasis on beauty as a paramount artistic value. He redefined the image of the artist as a passionate, visionary figure, dedicated to the pursuit of beauty and truth in both art and life. Dante Gabriel Rossetti remains an enduring figure, his life and work a testament to the power of art to express the deepest human emotions and to capture the elusive beauty of the world, both seen and unseen.
Literary Latitude 