Son of Gabriele Rossetti and Frances Polidori. He spoke fluently
Italian as well as English and was educated at King's College
School (1837-1842), F.S. Cary's Academy of Art (1842-1846) and
the Royal Academy Antique School. In 1847 he left school to
concentrate on art. He sent a fan letter to Ford Madox Brown,
whom he admired much. Brown thought Rossetti was being sarcastic
and went to the Rossetti family home to give him a sound trashing.
There he found to his surprise that Rossetti was absolutely
sincere. Brown became Rossetti's mentor and their friendship
lasted for life.
When he was only eighteen Rossetti
wrote his poem "The Blessed Damozel", which stresses the importance
of human love. In 1848 he founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
with William Holman Hunt, John Millais, James Collinson, Thomas
Woolner, Frederic Stephen and his brother William Rossetti.
They published "The Germ", a platform for their poetry and other
art. In 1849 he first exhibited an important painting, "The
Girlhood of Mary Virgin" (now at the Tate Gallery, London).
In 1850 he met Lizzie Siddal, one of the models for
the pre-raphaelite painters. She became his pupil as well as
his lover and also an important source of inspiration. In 1851
they became engaged.
In 1856 he met Edward Burne-Jones,
William Morris and Algernon Swinburne to work on wall paintings
for the Oxford Debating Union. In Oxford he met Jane Burdon.
He fell in love with her, introduced her to William Morris and
the latter married her in 1859.
In spite of affairs
with other women, he eventually married Lizzie Siddal in 1860.
When she died in 1862 he buried his collected poetry with her.
He painted "Beate Beatrice" in tribute to Lizzie and in later
years he tried to contact her in seances. In 1869 he wanted
his poetry back and in his absence Lizzie's coffin was opened.
The volume was returned to him and with it reports of the state
of her body. He was attacked from many sides because of this
action, but he wrote to Swinburne that Lizzie would certainly
have approved. When his poems were published he soon established
a reputation as a poet.
In 1871 his work was criticized
severely by Robert Buchanan in "The Fleshy School of Poetry:
Mr. D.G. Rossetti". Rossetti responded, but in 1872 he broke
down mentally as well as physically. He suffered from hallucinations
and inner voices and was taken to Scotland where he tried to
commit suicide. Rossetti never fully recovered, but soon he
was able to paint again. For many years he took huge doses of
whisky and laudanum to cure insomnia. This worsened of depressions
and his health detoriated further. Later in life he was interested
in spiritualism and he attended seances. But as early as 1855
he had written in a letter that he didn't believe in it and
he probably remained a sceptic.
In his last years Rossetti
was obsessed with "Janey" Morris, whose face appears in many
of his paintings. In 1871 William Morris went to Iceland and
left Rossetti with Jane at Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire. Jane
claimed in later years that nothing really happened between
them, but this seems hard to believe. Beyond dispute is that
her daughters Jenny and May were both very fond of Rossetti.
When
Rossetti died in 1882 he was in deep financial debt and his
brother had a hard time to keep the creditors and his model
Fanny Cornforth (with whom he was said to have a relationship)
away from the funeral arrangements. He had stated that he didn't
want to be buried at Highgate Cemetery (where Lizzie Siddal
was buried) and he was laid to rest in Burchington Churchyard,
Kent.
Other models to Rossetti were Ruth Herbert, Annie
Miller, Fanny Wilding and Marie Spartali
Family
• Mother: Polidori, Frances Mary Lavinia
• Father: Rossetti, Gabriele Pasquale Giuseppe
• Wife: Siddal, Elizabeth
• Sister: Rossetti, Christina Georgina
Related persons
• was a friend of Allingham, William
• was a friend of Alma-Tadema, Laura Theresa
• influenced Burne-Jones, Edward Coley
• was a friend of Cornforth, Fanny
• used as a model Cornforth, Fanny
• was a friend of Deverell, Walter howell
• was criticized by Eastlake, Elizabeth
• has a connection with Hughes, Arthur
• was a friend of Hunt, William Holman
• had a relationship with Miller, Annie
• painted Morris, Jane
• had a relationship with Morris, Jane
• has a connection with Prinsep, Valentine
• used as a model Siddal, Elizabeth
• knew Smetham, James
• was teacher to Spartali Stillman, Marie
• used as a model Spartali Stillman, Marie
• cooperated with Spencer-Stanhope, John Roddam
• was a friend of Whistler, James MacNeill
• painted Zambaco, Maria
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Events
1877/5/1: Opening of Grosvenor Gallery, London
It was located at 135-137 New Bond Street and it was founded by Sir Coutts Lindsay, who wanted to exhibit paintings that weren't fit for the nearby located Royal Academy. Burne-Jones, Whistler, Watts, Legros, Moore, Hubert von Herkomer, James Tissot, Millais and Holman Hunt were among those who exhibited. Rossetti refused to cooperate because work by members of the Royal Academy was also exhibited.
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Sources
• Jones, Kathleen, Learning not to be first, the Life of Christina Rossetti, The Windrush Press, Gloucestershire, 1991
• The Life of Dante Gabriel Rossetti
• ArtMagick :: Your Source of Visual Intoxication :: artmagick.com
• Redirects for Victorian Web, Postcolonial Web, and Cyberspace, Hypertext, & Critical Theory
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