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Today I will tell you about Dante Gabriel Rossetti - an artist, poet, illustrator, one of the greatest Pre-Raphaels.
The artist was born in the family of an Italian immigrant in 1828. The family and friends called him Gabriel, but in his works he used the name Dante because of the literary association.
At the age of nine, Rossetti was admitted to the Royal College of London, at 19 he was admitted to the Royal Academy. There he befriended William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millet. Together with them in 1848, Rossetti founded the Pra-Raphael Brotherhood. The Pra-Raphael group appealed to the paintings of Medieval and Early Renaissance masters as examples for their creativity.
After graduating (and the artist studied very reluctantly), he entered the Sass Academy of Arts, and in 1845 - at the Royal Academy Antique School.
In the 1950s, Rossetti drew paintings aimed primarily at the Middle Ages and at the theme of Dante's works. His favorite drawing technique is watercolor, which is most suitable for small-sized space paintings, because the purpose is not to show off, but to sell their work to private individuals.
In 1850, the artist wrote the Annunciation, which was then presented at the Royal Academy, where his brother was his model. On the occasion of the exhibition, he told his friend Alexander Munro the secret of the meaning of the letter "PRB" (Pra-Raphaelite Brotherhood) in the signature in the picture. In the depiction of the Virgin Mary Rossetti violating the canon of painting, showing her fear.
The existence of a secret brotherhood is considered embarrassing, and their work is subject to general criticism. Only a famous art critic, John Ruskin, defended them and obtained many paintings of Gabriel.
In 1850, the artist met with the muse, model, and his future wife Elizabeth Siddal (Lizzie). He took oil paintings, created the entire Lizzy picture gallery - vibrant, vibrant and dreamy. The couple married in 1860 at the Church of St. Clement in Hastings.
A year later, Lizzie gave birth to a daughter who died and fell into depression. This encourages the woman to commit suicide, which she does by taking large doses of laudanum. After this, the artist starts experiencing a mental disorder that tortures him for the rest of his life. He suffered from insomnia and recurrent depression. At that time, Rossetti described many women with fertile hair and sensual lips, similar to Lizzie.
In 1856, the artist worked on an illustrated edition of Tennyson's poetry, published by Edward Moxon. This allowed him to present his work to a wider audience, although this illustration did not bring him success. Also, along with other pre-Raphael, he ordered several frescoes at the Oxford Club building. It was decided to describe some scenes from Thomas Malory's book, The Death of Arthur. Work done after some time was destroyed due to the lack of knowledge of the artists in the technique of creating frescos.
In the late 1960s, Gabriel earned around 30,000 pounds a year. He is popular and often sells paintings. At the same time, artists drink and abuse chloral, causing repeated hallucinations.
The model after Lizzie was Fanny Cornforth and William Morris's wife - Jane.
In 1870, Rossetti published his first book "Poetry". Between 1871 and 1874, the artist lived with his family on the Kelmscott plantation. In October 1871, his mental condition deteriorated, mainly due to criticism of his poetry. He aggravated the persecution mania and Dante tried to commit suicide using laudanum, like his wife.
In 1879, Rossetti met and befriended Thomas Holle Kane, who was treated not only as a student, but also as a son. In 1881 a new edition of his poem was published, and the last song was collected in a volume called "Ballads and Sonnets".
The artist died on April 9, 1882 at Burchington-on-Sea in Kent.