After Rossetti’s death in 1882, Marie Spartali Stillman kept his obsession alive. Then can Odilon Redon, who also fell for the story of Beatrice.
Rossetti
Rossetti was obsessed with Beatrice, sometimes the literary figure from Dante’s ‘Vita Nuova’, other times that from the Divine Comedy. He was also obsessed with his models Lizzie Siddall and Jane Morris.
Claimed to be Dante’s beloved, Beatrice Portinari has become one of the most painted women in history. But she may have been symbolic rather than physical. Paintings by Blake and others.
Dreams painted by more modern artists, from William Blake to Paul Nash. These tend to become progressively harder to read.
A succinct summary of Dante’s ascent of the mountain-island of Purgatory, with the best of the paintings from Blake to Rossetti.
Millais’ wonderful painting of Ophelia wasn’t the first such work. From West and Delacroix to Rossetti and Bastien-Lepage, here she is.
Four months being bitten to death by midges, then a winter of immersing the model in a bath of tepid water. This masterwork didn’t come easy for anyone.
More superb paintings of the closing moments of the book, by Rossetti, Odilon Redon and others.
It’s sometimes hard to read a painting without understanding an inscription. Masaccio, Rossetti, Moreau, Corinth and Botticelli gives us some clues.
Just before he ascends to the terrestrial heaven on top of the island-mountain of Purgatory, Dante dreams of sisters Leah and Rachel, from the Bible.
