Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an artist, poet, and founder of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. Edward Burne-Jones introduced him to William Morris.
There was an inherent instability to Rossetti’s personality; in the words of Pater, “To him life is a crisis at every moment.” Initially Morris and Rossetti were very close friends and some even described their relationship as Morris’s ‘hero worship’ of Rossetti. Later they grew apart, likely due to Rossetti’s chemical dependencies and his affair with Jane Morris.
Rossetti poured his life and mental energy into his work, and it reflects that. Symons sums up Rossetti’s work; “part of what hypnotizes us in his work is, no doubt, that sense of personal tragedy which comes to us out of its elaborate beauty; the eternal tragedy of those who have loved the absolute in beauty too well, and with too mortal a thirst.”
Click on each image for a larger view
A page from a book of Rossetti's Poem 'The Blessed Damozel' with illustrations by Kenyon Cox
A work by Dante Gabriel Rosseti from 'La Vita Nuova'
Another illustration by Rossetti from 'La Vita Nuova'
