Victorian Art & Design

Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828-1882

D.G. Rossetti was born in London, England and originally named
Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti.
His family and friends called him "Gabriel"

English poet, illustrator, painter and translator.
He was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 and was later to be the main inspiration for second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement.
He was also a major precursor of the Aesthetic movement.

(The Aesthetic Movement is a 19th century European movement that emphasized aesthetic values over moral or social themes in literature, fine art,
the decorative arts, and interior design.)

Rossetti's art was characterised by its sensuality and its medieval revivalism.
His early poetry was influenced by Keats.
His later poetry was characterised by the complex interlinking of thought and feeling.

Rossetti was very upset by the attacks on the Pre-Raphaelite paintings in 1850 and 1851.
He decided not to exhibit again.

Rossetti's sonnet sequence The House of Life, a complex series of poems tracing the physical and spiritual development of an intimate relationship.
Rossetti described the sonnet form as a "moment's monument", implying that it sought to contain the feelings of a fleeting moment, and to reflect upon their meaning.
In 1881, Rossetti published a second volume of poems, Ballads and Sonnets, which included the remaining sonnets from the The House of Life sequence.

love & light
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