rossetti's women
I have this theory that all of Rossetti's women fall into one of three categories and they represent three different phases of his artistic career. The first is his Beatrice, the second the Venus and the third, the elusive Enigma. Ho hum.
Oh hai Helen of Troy.
Beatrice
Rossetti's Beatrice was of course Elizabeth Siddal. But the Beatrice in his art is not quite the same as the real life Lizzie. The Beatrice on canvas is deeply spiritualistic, an almost holy love who is pure and spotless and could never be anything less than perfect. She is the idealised woman. Tall, elegant, with a long graceful neck and heavily lidded eyes, a perfect rosebud mouth and a blaze of sleek red hair, she is a sombre, almost melancholy beauty, as though foreshadowing her early demise. Rossetti never really managed to have his Beatrice. She died young, much like Dante's Beatrice.
Venus
Rossetti's middle stage was filled with many fleshy redheads with full lips and come hither stares. She is a woman easy in her physical love although never entirely comfortable with the glare she receives - she has a look of distinct unease as she combs her hair or loses herself in reverie, as though she has escaped a troubled past yet still fears it knocking on her door. Rossetti's principle model (there were several others, notably Alexa Wilding whose face he painted onto many of his existing works in the late 1860s) for his Venus stage was his mistress and housekeeper Fanny Cornforth, who was madly in love with Rossetti, only to be heartbroken when he left her twice, once for Lizzie Siddal and again for Jane Morris (although she stayed on as his housekeeper for a further decade and remained his friend and champion until his death). There's a distinct look of longing in many of Rossetti's Venuses that represent this - this isn't a Venus who simply charms men but one who knows the pain of love.
Enigma
The Enigma is a woman who keeps her thoughts to herself, even though she may give her body to her lover and to all those who view her in Rossetti's paintings. She is intelligent, distant, quiet and there's a sense that she is thoroughly independent. Physically, she's utterly unlike any of the rest of Rossetti's women. She is athletic, quite unlike the tall, slender, angelic Beatrice or the creamy flesh of the full-bosomed Venus. Her hair is rippling and brown, her skin tanned. She stares straight at the artist with a challenging look that is completely unintelligible. I will give you my beauty, she says, but I will not give you my soul. The Enigma was Jane Morris, the wife of Rossetti's friend, William. The relationship was a heated, passionate one and, seeing as she was a married woman, highly secretive. He became obsessed with her and, even after the relationship ended, he continued painting her from memory.
Oh hai Helen of Troy.
Beatrice
Rossetti's Beatrice was of course Elizabeth Siddal. But the Beatrice in his art is not quite the same as the real life Lizzie. The Beatrice on canvas is deeply spiritualistic, an almost holy love who is pure and spotless and could never be anything less than perfect. She is the idealised woman. Tall, elegant, with a long graceful neck and heavily lidded eyes, a perfect rosebud mouth and a blaze of sleek red hair, she is a sombre, almost melancholy beauty, as though foreshadowing her early demise. Rossetti never really managed to have his Beatrice. She died young, much like Dante's Beatrice.
Venus
Rossetti's middle stage was filled with many fleshy redheads with full lips and come hither stares. She is a woman easy in her physical love although never entirely comfortable with the glare she receives - she has a look of distinct unease as she combs her hair or loses herself in reverie, as though she has escaped a troubled past yet still fears it knocking on her door. Rossetti's principle model (there were several others, notably Alexa Wilding whose face he painted onto many of his existing works in the late 1860s) for his Venus stage was his mistress and housekeeper Fanny Cornforth, who was madly in love with Rossetti, only to be heartbroken when he left her twice, once for Lizzie Siddal and again for Jane Morris (although she stayed on as his housekeeper for a further decade and remained his friend and champion until his death). There's a distinct look of longing in many of Rossetti's Venuses that represent this - this isn't a Venus who simply charms men but one who knows the pain of love.
Enigma
The Enigma is a woman who keeps her thoughts to herself, even though she may give her body to her lover and to all those who view her in Rossetti's paintings. She is intelligent, distant, quiet and there's a sense that she is thoroughly independent. Physically, she's utterly unlike any of the rest of Rossetti's women. She is athletic, quite unlike the tall, slender, angelic Beatrice or the creamy flesh of the full-bosomed Venus. Her hair is rippling and brown, her skin tanned. She stares straight at the artist with a challenging look that is completely unintelligible. I will give you my beauty, she says, but I will not give you my soul. The Enigma was Jane Morris, the wife of Rossetti's friend, William. The relationship was a heated, passionate one and, seeing as she was a married woman, highly secretive. He became obsessed with her and, even after the relationship ended, he continued painting her from memory.