,,masterpieces ,,in ,,colour ,,edited ,,by - - ,t4 ,,leman ,,hare ,,rossetti #ahbh--ahhb ,,masterpieces ,,in ,,colour ,,series ,,artist4 ,,author4 ,,velazquez4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,reynolds4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,turner4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,romney4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,greuze4 ,,alys ,,eyre ,,macklin4 ,,botticelli4 ,,henry ,b4 ,,binns4 ,,rossetti4 ,,lucien ,,pissarro4 ,,bellini4 ,,george ,,hay4 ,,fra ,,angelico4 ,,james ,,mason4 ,,rembrandt4 ,,josef ,,israels4 ,,leighton4 ,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4 ,,raphael4 ,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4 ,,holman ,,hunt4 ,,mary ,e4 ,,coleridge4 ,,titian4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,millais4 ,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4 ,,carlo ,,dolci4 ,,george ,,hay4 ,,gainsborough4 ,,max ,,rothschild4 ,,tintoretto4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,luini4 ,,james ,,mason4 ,,franz ,,hals4 ,,edgcumbe ,,staley4 ,,van ,,dyck4 ,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4 ,,leonardo ,,da ,,vinci4 ,m4 ,w4 ,,brockwell4 ,,rubens4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,whistler4 ,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4 ,,holbein4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,burne-,,jones4 ,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4 ,,vig,e ,,le ,,brun4 ,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4 ,,chardin4 ,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4 ,,fragonard4 ,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4 ,,memlinc4 ,w4 ,h4 ,j4 ,j4 ,c4 ,,weale4 ,,constable4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,raeburn4 ,,james ,l4 ,,caw4 ,,john ,s4 ,,sargent4 ,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4 ,,lawrence4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,d,,rer4 ,h4 ,e4 ,a4 ,,furst4 ,,millet4 ,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4 ,,watteau4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,hogarth4 ,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4 ,,murillo4 ,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4 ,,watts4 ,w4 ,,loftus ,,hare4 ,,ingres4 ,a4 ,j4 ,,finberg4 ,others in ,preparation4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,i4--,,the ,,daydream ,from the oil painting 7#fa in4 by #ce in47 painted in #ahhj and first exhibited in the ,royal ,academy in #ahhc4 7,frontispiece7 ,this picture was painted from ,mrs4 ,william ,morris and was left to ,south ,kensington by ,constantine ,ionids1 ,esq4 ,,rossetti ,,by ,,lucien ,,pissarro ,,illustrated ,,with ,,eight ,,reproductions ,,in ,,colour ,illustration3 ,,in ,,sempiternum4 ,,london3 ,t4 ,c4 ,e4 ,c4 ,,jack ,,new ,,york3 ,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes ,,co4 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,plate ,i4 ,the ,daydream ,frontispiece ,from the ,ionids ,collection at ,south ,kensington ,museum ,page ,,ii4 ,ecce ,ancilla ,domini #ad ,from the ,oil ,painting ,in the ,tate ,gallery ,,iii4 ,dante drawing the ,angel #bd ,from the ,water-,colour in the ,taylorian ,museum1 ,oxford ,,iv4 ,beata ,beatrix #cd ,from the ,oil ,painting in the ,tate ,gallery ,v4 ,the ,bower ,meadow #dj ,from the ,oil ,painting in the collection of the late ,sir ,john ,milburn1 ,bart41 ,acklington1 ,northumberland ,,vi4 ,the ,borgia ,family #ej ,from the ,water-,colour ,in ,south ,kensington ,museum ,,vii4 ,dante's ,dream #fj ,from the ,oil ,painting in the ,walker ,art ,gallery1 ,liverpool ,,viii4 ,astarte ,syriaca #gj ,from the ,oil ,painting in the ,manchester ,art ,gallery ,illustration3 ,rossetti ,i ,about the middle of the nineteenth century ,europe woke to the fact that ,art1 despite its pretention1 had lost all touch with tradition and1 like a blind man deprived of his staff1 stood fumbling for direction4 ,the necessary point d'appui took shape in a return to nature4 ,this return was effected by very different means according to the country and artistic milieu in which it occurred4 ,in ,england it was really a revival of the schools of painting that preceded ,raphael and resulted in grafting the complicated passions of our century upon the nave outlook of the early ,italians4 ,the more logical mind of the ,frenchman saw that it was not enough to look at nature through the eyes of the ,primitives4 ,the point of view had perforce changed and all that it was necessary to borrow from the early schools was the sincerity they brought to the interpretation of phenomena4 ,we have been told that1 in contrast to the continental movement1 the realism of the ,pre-,raphaelites was applied only to noble subjects4 ,but what is a noble subject8 ,the distinction is a purely literary one4 ,there are no noble subjects in art2 there are only harmonies of line and colour4 ,for example this school would prefer the rose to the cabbage as a subject1 on account of the symbols attached to it4 ,it is the ,queen of ,flowers1 the ,mystic ,rose1 c41 c4 ,but is the rose greater than the cabbage from a purely pictorial point of view8 ,it depends entirely upon how far the painter is able to reveal the beauty1 the harmony of form and colour of either4 ,the symbolistic appanage of the rose will not suffice of itself to make a picture1 nor for the lack of these symbols may we condemn the cabbage4 ,the realism of the ,pre-,raphaelites developed an absorption in detail1 a bit by bit painting that was too often detrimental to the whole4 ,in the best works of the early ,italians the unity is1 in spite of that attention to detail1 admirably maintained--in other words the values are preserved4 ,it was not long1 however1 before ,rossetti quitted the path of the ,pre-,raphaelites for a broader one4 ,his paintings are entirely symbolistic1 therefore literary4 ,given the personality of an artist equally gifted as painter and poet1 this need not surprise us4 ,indeed1 seeing that ,rossetti's pictorial conceptions are exclusively literary1 he might be considered as more dominantly a writer than a painter2 and this is the light in which he saw himself4 ,we might say he painted sentiments and add that sentiment is the property of literature1 but in ,rossetti's case they have at least the advantage of intensity4 ,they come straight from life1 for all his art is more or less connected with the tragedy of his own existence4 ,herein lies the value of ,rossetti's works as artistic creations4 ,,ii ,rossetti's family1 as his name indicates1 was of ,italian origin4 ,his ancestors on his father's side belong to ,vasto d',ammone1 a small city of the ,abruzzi4 ,the original name of the family was ,della ,guardia4 ,probably the diminutive ,rossetti was given to some red-haired ancestor and retained in spite of the disappearance of that peculiarity4 ,the grandfather of the poet1 ,dominico ,rossetti1 was in the iron trade1 his son ,gabriel ,rossetti1 born at ,vasto1 became a custodian of the ,bourbon ,museum at ,naples4 ,he was an ardent patriot and one of the group of reformers who obtained a constitution from ,ferdinand1 ,king of the ,two ,sicilies1 in #ahbj4 ,the return of the ,king with the ,austrian army obliged ,gabriel ,rossetti1 who was compromised by his actions as well as by his patriotic songs1 to make his escape from ,italy4 ,he did this by the help of the ,english admiral1 commanding the fleet in the bay4 ,indeed he left ,italy disguised in an ,english uniform4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ii4--,,ecce ,,ancilla ,,domini ,from the oil painting 7#bh in4 by #ag in47 painted in #ahej and is now in the ,tate ,gallery ,this picture was first exhibited in #ahej at the ,free ,exhibition in ,portland ,place4 ,it was very slightly retouched in #ahgc for the then owner1 ,mr4 ,graham4 ,it is rightly considered the most typical of ,rossetti's ,pre-,raphaelite period4 ,after passing three years in ,malta 7#ahbb-ahbe71 he came to ,england bearing introductions from ,john ,hookham ,frere1 then ,governor of ,malta4 ,a year after his arrival he married ,frances ,mary ,livinia ,polidori1 whose mother was an ,english lady of the name of ,pierce1 while her father was ,gaetano ,polidori1 the translator of ,milton4 ,gabriel ,rossetti was appointed ,professor of ,italian literature at ,king's ,college in #ahca2 but owing to the failure of his eyesight he had to resign that position in #ahde4 ,he died nine years after1 on ,april #bfth1 #ahed4 ,he is the author of several works1 the best known in ,england are3 ,comento analitico sulla ,divina ,commedia 7#ahbf-ahbg72 ,sullo ,spirito ,anti-,papale 7#ahcb72 and ,il ,mistero dell' ,amor ,platonic 7#ahdj74 ,in ,italy1 particularly in his own province1 his name is held in veneration for services in the cause of liberty4 ,he had four children1 the eldest1 ,maria ,francesca1 the author of ,a ,shadow of ,dante1 died in #ahgf4 ,dante ,gabriel was the second and was born the #abth of ,may #ahbh at #ch ,charlotte ,street1 ,great ,portland ,place1 ,london4 ,william ,michael was the third1 and ,christina was the youngest4 ,very little is known of the early life of ,rossetti4 ,he received some instruction at a private school in ,foley ,street1 ,portland ,place1 studying there from the autumn of #ahcf to the summer of #ahcg4 ,he was afterwards sent to ,king's ,college ,school4 ,there he learned ,latin1 ,french1 and a little ,greek4 ,naturally enough he knew ,italian very well from home and also a little ,german4 ,in his home surroundings the young child's taste for literature was developed very early2 at five years old he wrote a drama called ,the ,slave4 ,towards his thirteenth year he began a romantic tale in prose1 ,roderick and ,rosalba4 ,somewhere about #ahdc he wrote a legendary tale entitled ,sir ,hugh ,le ,heron1 founded on a tale by ,allan ,cunningham4 ,his grandfather ,gaetano ,polidori printed it himself for private circulation1 but the work contains no sign of his ultimate development and has been justly omitted from his collected works4 ,soon the wish to be a painter took possession of ,dante ,gabriel and1 on leaving school1 he began his technical education in art at ,cary's ,academy in ,bloomsbury4 ,in #ahdf he joined the classes of the ,antique ,school of the ,royal ,academy4 ,it is worth pointing out that he never followed the ,life ,school of that institution4 ,conventional methods of study were distasteful to him4 ,he decided to throw up the ,academy training and wrote to a painter1 not very well known at that date but whose work he admired1 asking to be admitted to his studio as a pupil4 ,the painter was ,madox ,brown1 and young ,rossetti1 given his needs and mode of thought1 could not have chosen a more suitable master4 ,madox ,brown was only seven years older than ,rossetti1 but he had studied at ,ghent1 ,antwerp1 ,paris1 and ,rome4 ,he had exhibited some fine cartoons during the early forties for the decoration of the ,house of ,lords4 ,among these was one that ,rossetti had greatly admired at the exhibition of the competitive cartoons in ,westminster ,hall4 ,it was ,harold's body brought before ,william the ,conqueror4 ,in ,march #ahdh ,rossetti entered upon his new experience and ,madox ,brown agreed to teach him painting1 not for a fee but for the mere pleasure of meeting and training a sympathetic spirit4 ,rossetti did not long remain a regular attendant in the studio4 ,he left after a few months4 ,on the opening day of the exhibition 7,may #ahdh71 ,rossetti1 says ,mr4 ,hunt1 came up boisterously and in loud tongue made me feel very confused by declaring that mine was the best picture of the year4 ,the fact that it was from ,keats 7',the ,eve of ,st4 ,agnes'7 made him extra enthusiastic1 for1 ,i think1 no painter had ever before painted from that wonderful poet1 who then1 it may scarcely be credited1 was little known4 ,rossetti wished so earnestly to become more intimate with ,hunt that he agreed to work with him1 sharing a studio that the latter had just taken in ,cleveland ,street1 ,fitzroy ,square4 ,here he began to paint his first composition1 having hitherto done no more than studies1 sketches1 a number of portraits1 some of which reveal excellent work4 ,at this time his literary development was somewhat ahead of his artistic growth4 ,he had already translated the ,vita ,nuova which is alone a monumental achievement1 introducing wonderfully into the ,english the warmth of the southern language2 and he had written some of his best known poems1 including ,the ,blessed ,damozel1 ,my ,sister's ,sleep1 ,the ,portrait1 a considerable portion of ,ave1 ,a last ,confession1 and the ,bride's ,prelude4 ,millais and ,holman ,hunt1 whose friendship dated from the ,academy ,schools1 found ground for sympathetic union with ,rossetti in their common distaste for contemporary art4 ,they were convinced it was necessary to abandon the conventional style of the day and return to a severe and conscientious study of nature4 ,they were for a while uncertain as to the path to pursue4 ,where should they turn for precept and guidance on the line of their new-found principles8 ,looking through a book of engravings from the ,campo ,santo of ,pisa one day at ,millais' house1 they thought they had found there the direction they sought4 ,mr4 ,holman ,hunt tells us that the foundation of the ,pre-,raphaelite ,brotherhood was the immediate result of coming across the book at that particular time4 ,while ,holman ,hunt was painting ,rienzi swearing revenge over his brother's corpse1 and ,millais1 ,lorenzo and ,isabella1 ,rossetti began his ,girlhood of ,mary ,virgin4 ,as can well be imagined that first composition gave him endless trouble and was the cause of the most violent fits of alternate depression and energy4 ,but the following spring 7#ahdi71 the three pictures were ready for exhibition4 ,millais and ,hunt were hung in the ,royal ,academy ,exhibition and ,rossetti's in the so-called ,free ,exhibition1 which was held in a gallery at ,hyde ,park ,corner4 ,in the ,girlhood of ,mary ,virgin1 he represents a room in the ,virgin's home with a balcony on which her father1 ,st4 ,joachim1 is seen tending a vine which grows up towards the top of the picture4 ,on the right1 against a dark green curtain1 are the figures of ,st4 ,anna and the ,virgin sitting at an embroidery frame4 ,the mother1 in dark green and brown garments with a dull red head-dress1 is watching with clasped hands the work in front of her4 ,the young girl1 a quite unconventional ,madonna dressed in grey1 pauses with a needle in her hand gazing in front of her at a child angel holding a white lily4 ,underneath the pot in which the white lily grows are six big books bearing the names of the six cardinal virtues4 ,the figures1 as well as the dove which is perched on the trellis1 bear halos1 their names being inscribed within4 ,rossetti painted his mother for ,st4 ,anna and his sister ,christina for the ,virgin4 ,changing her dark brown hair to golden1 he broke a rule of the ,brotherhood1 which decrees that the artist shall copy his model most scrupulously4 ,the picture was signed with his name1 followed by the three letters ,p4,r4,b4 ,rossetti having revealed the meaning of these three letters to a friend it was soon generally known and no peace was given to those who dared to stand up against traditional authority4 ,it is necessary to explain that1 at that time1 ,raphael was considered the greatest of all painters4 ,all who came before him were ignored and a set of fixed rules supposed to have been deduced from his work was taught in all the schools4 ,the revolt of the ,brethren was directed much more against those rules than against ,raphael's work which1 in all probability1 they hardly knew4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iii4--,,dante ,,drawing ,,the ,,angel ,from the water-colour 7#af in4 by #bd in47 painted in #ahec and first exhibited in the ,pre-,raphaelite ,exhibition at ,russell ,place in #aheg4 ,it is now in the ,taylorian ,museum at ,oxford ,the subject of this water-colour is taken from the following passage in the ,vita ,nuova3 ,on that day which fulfilled the year since my lady had been made of the citizens of eternal life1 remembering me of her as ,i sat alone1 ,i betook myself to draw the resemblance of an angel upon certain tablets4 ,and while ,i did thus1 chancing to turn my head ,i perceived that some were standing beside me1 to whom ,i should have given courteous welcome1 and that they were observing what ,i did3 also ,i learned afterwards that they had been there awhile before ,i perceived them4 ,perceiving whom1 ,i arose for salutation and said3 ',another was with me4' ,the same incident has been commemorated by ,robert ,browning in his ,one ,word ,more4 ,at about the same time that he painted ,mary's ,girlhood1 ,rossetti did a portrait in oils of his father1 his first work of this kind4 ,he also drew an outline design of a lute player and his lady1 a subject taken from ,coleridge's ,genevieve2 a pen-and-ink drawing of ,gretchen in the ,chapel1 with ,mephistopheles whispering in her ear1 and ,the ,sun may shine and we be cold1 a sketch of a girl near a window1 apparently a prisoner4 ,to this period also belongs the important pen-and-ink drawing1 ,il ,saluto di ,beatrice1 representing in two parts the meeting of ,dante and ,beatrice1 first in a street of ,florence and secondly in ,paradise4 ,the most important of ,rossetti's ,pre-,raphaelite work during the two years following #ahdh is the ,ecce ,ancilla ,domini1 quite in keeping in sentiment with the picture of the previous year4 ,both these pictures are a little timid in treatment4 ,in the ,ecce ,ancilla ,domini1 the ,virgin clad in white is sitting on her bed1 as if just awakened1 and sees with awe the full length of an angel1 also clad in white1 floating in front of her and holding a white lily in his hand4 ,the walls are white but there is a blue curtain behind the ,virgin's head and a red embroidery on its frame is standing in the foreground at the foot of the bed4 ,the drapery of the angel is a little stiff and the whole effect rather hard1 but notwithstanding this youthful fault the whole work is restrained and full of charm both in drawing and colour4 ,this picture was exhibited in #ahej at the same ,free ,exhibition1 which was moved this year from ,hyde ,park ,corner to ,portland ,place4 ,the ,pre-,raphaelites were now attacked by the press still more fiercely than before1 but they found a champion in ,ruskin who took up their defence in a series of letters to the ,times1 and in so doing laid down an elaborate statement of principles4 ,thus it came about that the broad and possibly nebulous ideas of the ,brethren became transmuted into hard and fast rules1 which the young painters had to accept1 partly out of gratitude to their benefactor1 partly because they agreed with them4 ,rossetti painted only three pictures strictly according to the ,pre-,raphaelite rules4 ,curiously enough the best genuine ,pre-,raphaelite picture is ,work by ,ford ,madox ,brown1 who not believing in cliques refused to join the group4 ,round ,rossetti were grouped his brother1 ,william ,michael1 his sister ,christina1 with ,woolner1 ,collinson1 ,deverell1 ,millais1 ,hunt1 ,madox ,brown1 ,william ,bell ,scott1 and ,coventry ,patmore4 ,of all these ,hunt and ,millais alone showed no inclination for writing4 ,the group naturally formed a school of literary thought of which ,the ,germ1 originated by ,rossetti to propagate the ideas of the ,p4,r4,b41 was the outcome4 ,the cumbrous title ,monthly ,thoughts in ,literature1 ,poetry1 and ,art1 was first intended to be the title of this special publication of the brotherhood1 but at a meeting held in ,rossetti's studio1 #gb ,newman ,street1 in ,december #ahdi1 when the first number was just ready for publication it was decided to change the name for the simple title ,the ,germ4 ,this was proposed by ,mr4 ,cave ,thomas1 an intimate friend of the group4 ,to the first number ,rossetti contributed ,my ,sister's ,sleep1 and a prose romance ,hand and ,soul4 ,following numbers contained ,the ,blessed ,damozel1 ,the ,carillon1 ,sea limits 7under the title ,from the ,cliffs71 and several sonnets4 ,only the first two numbers of the publication were called ,the ,germ4 ,the publication was known as ,art and ,poetry in the third and fourth issues4 ,the ,germ1 as its short career showed1 did not meet with success1 but it served to establish ,rossetti's reputation among a small group of artists and admirers4 ,rossetti's literary contributions were far more matured than his paintings and it is surprising that they did not attract more attention4 ,hand and ,soul is specially valuable as bearing a record of psychological experiences which gives a clear glimpse of ,rossetti's mind4 ,,iii ,the storm of abuse caused by his two first pictures assisted a natural inclination to give up his first source of religio-mystical inspiration4 ,gradually the young painter groped his way towards romantic subjects and discovered a rich mine of them in the works of ,browning1 ,dante1 ,keats1 and the ,morte d',arthur of ,malory4 ,he may be said to have found there the subjects of most of his compositions1 and his works inspired by these poets are delightfully full of originality and ingenuity4 ,he tried first a large canvas from the page's song in ,pippa ,passes but had to abandon it4 ,the composition of it remains in a little painting called ,hist1 said ,kate the ,queen1 dated #ahea4 ,he executed two other pen-and-ink designs from ,browning entitled ,taurellos' first sight of ,fortune and the ,laboratory1 at about the same time4 ,probably the latter was his first essay in water-colour1 it is very different from those for which he is popularly known4 ,in ,beatrice at the ,wedding ,feast1 denying her salutation to ,dante1 a small water-colour of #ahdi from the ,vita ,nuova1 the central figure is a portrait of ,miss ,elizabeth ,siddal who became acquainted with ,rossetti at about this date4 ,she was the daughter of a ,sheffield cutler and was working in a milliner's shop4 ,walter ,deverell discovered her one day1 when he was shopping with his mother4 ,he persuaded her to sit for him for his ,viola and later to ,rossetti4 ,her portrait can be seen in a picture by ,holman ,hunt and in ,millais' ,ophelia4 ,miss ,siddal sat for most of the women in ,rossetti's earliest and finest water-colours4 ,to #ahea belongs the beautiful little composition called ,borgia1 in which ,lucrezia can be seen dressed in an ample white gown brightened all over with coloured ribbons and bows1 sitting with a lute in her hands4 ,in the foreground two children are dancing4 ,leaning over her left shoulder is the ,pope ,alexander ,,vi41 while her brother ,csar stands on the other side beating time with a knife against a wine-glass on the table4 ,rossetti was not long in discovering that ,miss ,siddal had a strong aptitude for art4 ,with his special gift of influencing others the position of model was soon merged into that of a pupil4 ,under his guidance ,miss ,siddal made rapid progress and her water-colours show a fine sense of colour4 ,the sympathy between artist and pupil ripened into affection4 ,the exact date of their engagement is not known1 but it was probably in #ahec1 certainly not later than #ahed1 and was at first kept secret at ,miss ,siddal's request4 ,to the year #ahed belongs the water-colour1 ,king ,arthur's ,tomb1 in which ,lancelot and ,guenevere are seen bidding farewell over the tomb of ,king ,arthur2 and to the following year belong the three water-colours1 ,the ,nativity1 ,la ,belle ,dame ,sans ,merci1 and the ,annunciation1 as well as the drawing for a wood-cut1 illustrating a poem called ,the ,maids of ,elfen-,mere by ,william ,allingham4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iv4--,,beata ,,beatrix ,from the oil painting 7#cd in4 by #bg in47 painted in #ahfc for ,lord ,mount-,temple1 now in the ,tate ,gallery ,though undoubtedly inspired by the death of his wife1 the motive of this picture was ostensibly taken from the ,vita ,nuova4 ,the ,latin quotation inscribed on the frame1 which was designed by ,rossetti himself1 is taken from the following passage3 ,after this most gracious creature had gone out from among us1 the whole city came to be as it were widowed and despoiled of all dignity4 ,then ,i1 left mourning in this desolate city1 wrote unto the principal persons thereof1 in an epistle1 concerning its condition2 taking for my commencement those words of ,jeremias3 ,quomodo sedet sola civitas6 etc4 ,the date of the death of ,beatrice is also inscribed on the frame4 ,the artistic and romantic force which had produced the ,pre-,raphaelite movement had another important work to do five or six years later1 when a fusion of two movements took place3 the early ,pre-,raphaelites represented by ,rossetti1 ,holman ,hunt1 and ,millais1 joined the later movement inaugurated by ,morris and ,burne-,jones4 ,the second of these groups originated at ,exeter ,college1 ,oxford4 ,it took shape like the first one in a revolt against the ,art formul of the age4 ,the ,oxford group1 like the ,p4,r4,b41 had a magazine to express their views4 ,at ,christmas #ahee ,burne-,jones came up to ,london and was introduced to ,rossetti1 whom he and ,morris admired greatly4 ,rossetti contributed ,the ,burden of ,nineveh1 and a little altered version of ,the ,blessed ,damozel to the ,oxford and ,cambridge ,magazine1 the organ of ,william ,morris4 ,one year later ,burne-,jones and ,morris settled in ,london in rooms at #ag ,red ,lion ,square4 ,both young men were soon completely under ,rossetti's influence1 and their studio became a sort of centre for all members of his circle4 ,there1 in order to furnish and decorate these rooms1 the first essays in designing furniture were made4 ,rossetti painted a pair of panels for a cabinet4 ,he made use of the subject of his early pen-and-ink drawing1 ,the ,salutation of ,beatrice1 representing1 in two divisions1 ,dante meeting ,beatrice in ,florence and again in ,paradise1 with a figure of ,love standing between them in the midst of symbols4 ,besides those panels ,rossetti painted on the backs of two arm-chairs1 ,gwendolen in the ,witch-tower and the ,arming of a ,knight1 both subjects from poems by ,william ,morris4 ,to #aheg belongs the charming series of water-colours acquired by ,william ,morris3 ,the ,damsel of the ,st4 ,grael1 ,the ,death of ,breuse sans piti1 ,the ,chapel before the ,lists1 ,the ,tune of ,seven ,towers1 and ,the ,blue ,closet4 ,the two last were special favourites with ,morris who used their romantic titles for two of his poems4 ,this year also1 he painted the ,wedding of ,st4 ,george1 ,the ,gate of ,memory1 ,the ,garden ,bower1 and a ,christmas ,carol4 ,during the vacation of #aheg ,rossetti went to ,oxford with ,morris to visit the architect1 ,benjamin ,woodward1 who was constructing a debating-hall for the ,union ,society4 ,rossetti saw an opportunity for mural decoration1 and arrangements were made with the building committee in charge that seven artists including ,rossetti1 ,burne-,jones1 and ,morris1 should undertake the decoration gratuitously1 the ,union only defraying their expenses at ,oxford and providing all necessary material4 ,rossetti took for subjects1 ,launcelot asleep before the ,chapel of the ,sanc ,grael and ,sir ,galahad1 ,sir ,bors1 and ,sir ,percival1 receiving the ,sanc ,grael4 ,before the pictures were finished they began to fade1 the walls having been badly prepared and ,rossetti's designs were never completed4 ,while at ,oxford1 in the summer of #aheg1 at the theatre1 ,rossetti was very much impressed one night by the striking beauty of ,miss ,burden1 the daughter of an ,oxford resident4 ,he obtained an introduction in order to ask for sittings4 ,a pen-and-ink head called ,queen ,guinevere1 probably meant to replace the earlier studies done for ,launcelot at the ,shrine1 was the first result of the new acquaintance4 ,several years later1 after the death of his wife1 ,miss ,burden1 then ,mrs4 ,william ,morris1 again sat to ,rossetti for several of his important pictures4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,v4--,,the ,,bower ,,meadow ,from the oil painting 7#cb in4 by #be in47 in the collection of the late ,sir ,john ,milburn1 ,bart41 ,acklington1 ,northumberland ,of this charming composition the landscape background was painted at ,sevenoaks in #ahej1 and the figures were added and the whole finished in #ahgb4 ,,iv ,on the #bcrd of ,may #ahfj1 the long delayed marriage of ,rossetti to ,miss ,siddal took place in ,st4 ,clement's ,church1 ,hastings1 and the married couple went to ,paris for their honeymoon4 ,while staying there ,rossetti did two pen-and-ink drawings one of which called ,how they meet themselves1 was done to replace the one made in #ahea and lost2 the other representing a scene from the ,life of ,johnson by ,boswell1 quite an unusual subject for the artist4 ,to the same year belongs the picture representing ,lucrezia ,borgia washing her hands after preparing poison for her husband the ,duke ,alphonso of ,bisceglia4 ,in #ahfa ,rossetti's translation from the ,italian poets was at last published with the ,vita ,nuova in a volume entitled ,the ,italian ,poets from ,cuillo d',alcamo to ,dante ,alighieri 7#aajj1 #abjj1 #acjj74 ,the painter poet was enabled to publish this book through ,messrs4 ,smith1 ,elder ,co4 by the generous assistance of ,ruskin who advanced #ajj to the publisher1 but the sale of the first edition was only just sufficient to pay that sum back1 leaving a balance of about #aj to the author4 ,he proposed to etch for the frontispiece a charming design of which various pen-and-ink versions exist1 but being displeased with the plate he destroyed it4 ,in the same year he painted a small portrait of his wife called ,regina ,cordium4 ,the head with ruddy hair hanging loose on the shoulders against a gold background1 fills nearly all the canvas and a hand is seen on the left side of the picture holding a pansy4 ,more than one replica of that portrait exists1 and several heads from different sitters are called ,regina ,cordium4 ,another important production of the year is ,cassandra4 ,the subject is a scene on the walls of ,troy before ,hector's last battle4 ,he has been warned in vain by the prophetess1 who is seen leaning against a pillar1 tearing her clothes in despair4 ,hector is rushing down the steps1 and the whole composition is full of soldiers1 every space being filled with some incident related to the central subject1 giving that aspect of concentrated composition so special to ,rossetti4 ,the two years following his marriage 7#ahfj-ahfb7 were amongst the most prolific of ,rossetti's life both in ideas and invention4 ,besides ,cassandra he planned the composition for a large picture which was commissioned but never finished1 representing ,perseus with the ,medusa's head2 and he made the first pencil studies for his famous ,beata ,beatrix4 ,with #ahfb is associated the water-colour1 ,bethlehem ,gate4 ,it is also about this time 7#ahfa-ahfb7 that the now famous firm of ,morris1 ,marshall1 ,faulkner ,co4 was established with the co-operation of ,william ,morris1 ,faulkner1 ,burne-,jones1 ,madox ,brown1 ,webb1 and others as active members4 ,the idea of the commercial attempt on the artistic lines to reform the art of decoration and furniture-making was1 says ,mr4 ,mackail1 largely due to ,madox ,brown1 but perhaps more to ,rossetti1 who1 in spite of his artistic qualities1 was a very good business man and had the scent of a trained financier for anything likely to pay4 ,the little band of original artists and designers took in hand tapestry1 furniture1 wall papers1 stained-glass1 and later on1 carpet weaving and dyeing4 ,the terms under which they worked were very simple4 ,each member was to be paid for the work commissioned by the firm1 and the profits were to be divided in a proper ratio at the end4 ,the new firm had plenty to do owing to the demand for ritual decorations caused by the ,anglo-,catholic movement4 ,amongst the first commissions were those for adorning two new churches then being built--,st4 ,martin-on-the-,hill1 ,scarborough1 and ,st4 ,michael at ,brighton4 ,for the first one ,rossetti made a design for two pulpit panels and several windows4 ,in dealing with stained-glass ,rossetti who was specially gifted as a decorator1 understood his medium1 and in making his design took into account all the limitations of the material4 ,he did not seek to paint a picture on glass1 but maintained that idea of a mosaic of coloured-glass that is seen to so much advantage in the early vitraux4 ,amongst works designed by him for the firm ,morris ,co4 the following may be mentioned3 ,adam and ,eve1 two designs for stained-glass1 and ,st4 ,george and the ,dragon1 six designs for stained-glass4 ,one of them representing the princess drawing the fatal lot he painted as a water-colour4 ,king ,rene's ,honeymoon1 a design for one of four panels representing the ,arts1 was done for a gothic cabinet that ,mr4 ,j4 ,p4 ,seddon ordered from ,morris ,co4 ,rossetti's design for ,music shows the king bent over a chamber-organ kissing his bride while she is playing4 ,he designed also one of the minor panels ,gardening4 ,there is a water-colour of the same subject under the title of ,spring4 ,amor1 ,amans1 ,amata1 were three small figures in ovals1 done for the back of a sofa1 which ,rossetti had made for himself4 ,he kept it for many years in his house at ,chelsea4 ,sir ,tristran and la ,belle ,iseult drinking the ,love potion was a fine design intended to be one of a series of stained-glass windows4 ,king ,rene's ,honeymoon was done for a series of stained-glass windows4 ,the ,annunciation is a design for a window1 quite different from the early version of the same subject4 ,threshing is a design for a glazed tile4 ,the ,sermon on the ,mount was done for a memorial window in ,christ ,church1 ,albany ,street1 erected in #ahfi to the memory of his aunt1 ,miss ,polidori4 ,in either #ahfa or #ahfb ,rossetti designed two illustrations for his sister ,christina's book of poems ,goblin ,market4 ,they were engraved on wood and appear in ,messrs4 ,macmillan's edition4 ,in ,may #ahfa ,mrs4 ,rossetti gave birth to a still-born child4 ,her recovery was slow1 and this trouble did not improve her consumptive tendencies4 ,she suffered1 too1 from a very severe form of neuralgia1 for which laudanum was prescribed4 ,on the night of the #aath of ,february #ahfb she took an overdose and ,rossetti1 returning home from lecturing at the ,working ,men's ,college1 found her dying4 ,in a terrible state of anxiety1 after seeking one doctor after another1 he called in ,madox ,brown for help1 but all in vain4 ,the following morning his wife died1 after only two years of married life4 ,the grief of ,rossetti was overwhelming and the touching scene in which he buried the manuscript of his poems with his beloved wife has been told many a time4 ,v ,after this tragic event ,rossetti could no longer live in the rooms he had occupied at ,chatham ,place4 ,he looked for some others1 living meanwhile for a few months in a house in ,lincoln's ,inn ,fields4 ,then he took a lease of the house at ,no4 #af ,cheyne ,walk1 sharing it at first with ,swinburne and ,meredith4 ,mr4 ,meredith did not stay long and after awhile ,mr4 ,swinburne also gave up his tenancy1 leaving ,rossetti sole occupant of the premises4 ,one of the last works he did before his misfortune1 and the last picture for which his wife sat to him1 was the water-colour of ,st4 ,george and the ,princess ,sabra4 ,for sometime after the blow of his wife's death he was idle4 ,the first things he did after his recovery was a crayon portrait of his mother 7#ahfb7 followed by ,the ,girl at a ,lattice1 ,joan of ,arc1 and a replica of his early ,paolo and ,francesca4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vi4--,,the ,,borgia ,,family ,from the water-colour painted in #ahgc and lately purchased by the ,south ,kensington ,museum ,rossetti first painted this subject in #ahea--;a smaller size #i by #aj in4 ,it is one of the richest of his small compositions4 ,the celebrated picture of ,beata ,beatrix1 now in the ,tate ,gallery is dated #ahfc1 but was finished later1 being only partly painted in that year4 ,in ,rossetti's own words the following is a description of the picture3 ,the picture illustrates the ,vita ,nuova1 embodying symbolically the death of ,beatrice as treated in that work4 ,the picture is not intended at all to represent death1 but to render it under the semblance of a trance in which ,beatrice1 seated at a balcony overlooking the city1 is suddenly rapt from earth to heaven4444 ,the whole strikes a sombre note apart from its symbolic representation through its delicious purple harmony4 ,the city in the sunset light in the distance1 supposed to be ,florence1 is very like ,london in atmospheric effect4 ,beatrice is seen sitting at the balcony against the sunset background1 with the light playing round her golden auburn hair1 in fashion suggesting an aureole4 ,she is dressed in green with dull purple sleeves4 ,a bright red bird holding in its beak a dim purple poppy1 emblem of death1 is flying towards her4 ,in the misty distance the figures of ,dante and ,love are watching her4 ,rossetti painted in #ahgb a replica of that picture1 adding to the main subject the meeting of ,dante and ,beatrice in ,paradise1 with maidens bearing instruments of music4 ,he was rather reluctant to send out that replica1 but the unwillingness was overcome4 ,he painted several others1 none of them being equal in quality to the original4 ,in #ahfc ,rossetti painted an oil picture called ,helen of ,troy1 and the last of the ,st4 ,george subjects1 representing ,st4 ,george killing the dragon1 which is a water-colour version of the stained-glass series4 ,then come three small subjects1 ,belcolore1 a girl in a circular frame biting a rosebud4 ,of this there is a red chalk study and a water-colour version1 ,brimfull1 a water-colour showing a lady stooping to sip from a full glass1 and a picture called ,a ,lady in ,yellow4 ,rossetti now gave up painting those quaint little romantic subjects so intense in literary feeling and dramatic expression1 and devoted himself to large single figures upon a background of rich accessories4 ,when a painter makes a single figure the central interest of his picture1 he must1 to a certain extent1 avail himself of psychological facts in the model before him1 for if he recognises no limits to the foreign sentiment and character he may impose1 he will1 little by little1 fall to the creation of a type which is not far short of a monstrosity4 ,although the first of his pictures in this new style are among his finest works we see this inevitable degeneration in ,rossetti's latest paintings4 ,the first pictures of this kind and some of the best are1 ,fazio's ,mistress1 and ,lady ,lilith4 ,the former is dated #ahfc1 but was altered and repainted ten years later1 and ,rossetti changed its title to ,aurelia4 ,in #ahfd he painted the latter which is a modern conception of that first wife of ,adam mentioned in the old ,talmudic ,legend4 ,the ,lady ,lilith is seated against a background covered with roses4 ,dressed in white1 she holds a mirror in her hand1 and combs her long fair hair4 ,although dated #ahfd it was really not finished until #ahfg4 ,the face as it is now was repainted in #ahgc from a different model1 and is said to be quite inferior to the former one4 ,rossetti at that time seemed to be a victim of a mania for repainting his earlier work4 ,the next great picture1 begun in #ahfd1 is ,venus ,verticordia1 the oil version of which was not finished before #ahfh4 ,it represents the nude bust of a massively built woman surrounded by roses and honeysuckle4 ,she holds an arrow in her right hand and in the left an apple on which a yellow butterfly has alighted4 ,the face is conventionally pretty and lacks character4 ,morning ,music1 an elaborate little water-colour2 ,monna ,pomona1 a girl holding an apple with roses on her lap and in a basket at her side2 ,how ,sir ,galahad1 ,sir ,bors1 and ,sir ,percival received the ,holy ,grael 7done in his earlier manner72 ,roman de la ,rose1 a water-colour version of the earlier panel1 and ,the ,madness of ,ophelia1 represent the remaining production of #ahfd4 ,there is little to mention in #ahfe4 ,the most important productions of that year were ,the ,blue ,bower1 and ,the ,merciless ,lady4 ,in the ,merciless ,lady1 a water-colour in the style of his earlier romantic manner1 a man sits on a bank of turf between two maidens1 with a sunlit meadow behind4 ,he seems attracted by the one on his left who is fair and plays a lute1 the other1 his lady love1 holds his hand and with a sad expression tries to win him back to her4 ,a ,fight for a ,woman1 the composition of which is of a very early date1 and the oil-painting1 ,bella e ,buona1 but renamed ,il ,ramoscello1 were also painted in #ahfe4 ,after these came ,the ,beloved1 finished in #ahff1 but worked again in #ahgc1 this time without being spoiled4 ,in writing to the owner of this picture ,rossetti said3 ,i mean it to be like jewels1 and he carried out his intention4 ,in the middle of the picture is the fair-haired bride radiant in rich stuffs1 her gown is green1 with large sleeves embroidered in gold and red4 ,she is surrounded by four dark-haired maidens1 on the foreground a little negro1 adorned with a head-band and a necklace showing the beautiful invention of ,rossetti's taste in decorative art1 is holding a golden vase of roses4 ,next comes the ,monna ,vanna1 which represents a lady dressed in a magnificent embroidered robe with large sleeves1 holding a fan of black and yellow plumes4 ,her luxuriant hair is falling from each side of her face on to her shoulders1 a bunch of roses is seen in a vase on the left top corner of the picture4 ,the ,sibylla ,palmifera1 and ,monna ,vanna1 were not completed before #ahgj4 ,the latter represents a ,sibyl sitting underneath a stone canopy1 which is carved on one side with a cupid's head wreathed with roses1 and on the other with a skull crowned with red poppies4 ,the ,sibyl is clad in crimson1 her brown hair is parted and falling each side of her face1 a green coif spreads from her head over her shoulder and she holds a palm-leaf in her hand4 ,there is a replica of the head of ,sibylla ,palmifera4 ,in the same year 7#ahff7 he painted in oils a portrait of his mother1 and made a large crayon drawing of his sister ,christina4 ,he also made two illustrations for her volume of poems1 ,the ,prince's ,progress4 ,in #ahfg ,rossetti painted in oils ,the ,christmas ,carol1 of which a crayon study exists2 ,monna ,rosa1 and the ,loving ,cup4 ,for the water-colour1 ,the ,return of ,tibullus to ,delia1 there are numerous sketches made from ,miss ,siddal sitting on a couch biting a tress of her hair1 which show that the design must have been of a much earlier date4 ,the water-colours1 ,aurora1 ,tessa la ,bionda2 the crayons1 ,magdalene1 ,peace1 ,contemplation1 and the crayon replica1 ,venus ,verticordia1 bear the same date4 ,unfortunately about this time ,rossetti began to have serious trouble with his eyesight1 and had probably to reduce his hours of work4 ,all the same in #ahfh he painted a portrait of ,mrs4 ,morris1 who has kindly lent it to the ,tate ,gallery1 where it can now be seen4 ,several chalk crayon studies have been done for this portrait4 ,then he began the picture of ,the ,daydream1 representing ,mrs4 ,morris sitting on the lower branches of a sycamore tree1 a replica in water-colour of ,bocca ,baciate1 called ,bionda del ,balcone2 ,the ,rose1 a water-colour2 a crayon drawing1 ,aurea ,catena1 some studies for ,la ,pia1 which was begun about this time1 and a water-colour replica of ,venus ,verticordia4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vii4--,,dante',s ,,dream ,from the oil painting 7#g ft4 #a by #aj ft4 #f7 now in the ,walker ,art ,gallery1 ,liverpool ,this picture which is considered by some to be ,rossetti's most important work1 illustrates the following passage in the ,vita ,nuova3 ,then my heart that was so full of love said unto me3 ',is it true that our lady lieth dead'2 and it seemed to me that ,i went to look upon the body wherein that blessed and most noble spirit had had its abiding-place4 ,and so strong was this idle imagining1 that it made me behold my lady in death1 whose head certain ladies seemed to be covering with a white veil4 ,this picture1 painted in #ahga1 passed through several hands and was taken back by ,rossetti from ,mr4 ,valpy1 on account of its large size in exchange for several smaller works4 ,it was eventually bought by the ,liverpool corporation4 ,rossetti first treated this subject in a little water-colour painted for ,miss ,heaton in #ahef4 ,rossetti had now reached his fortieth year and for about a twelvemonth had been suffering from insomnia4 ,this was the cause of the break-up of his health1 for to gain relief he acquired the habit of taking chloral1 a drug of which the properties were then little known4 ,,vi ,during a visit to ,penkill the thought of publishing his early poems occurred to him4 ,towards the end of #ahfi he was busy with their preparation4 ,some of them were in circulation in manuscript in a more or less finished condition and some others were buried with his wife4 ,as a relief from the strain of painting he began to write again4 ,the ,ballad of ,troy ,town1 part of ,eden ,bower1 and the ,stream's ,secret1 were among the new poems4 ,he thought at first to collect as many of the earlier works as he could remember1 together with those of which friends had manuscript copies1 and to have them set up in type as the foundation of a possible volume4 ,but he was persuaded with difficulty to apply for permission to open the grave of his wife in order to recover the buried manuscript4 ,in #ahgj the book1 under the title1 ,poems by ,dante ,gabriel ,rossetti1 was published by ,mr4 ,f4 ,s4 ,ellis1 then in ,king ,street1 ,covent ,garden4 ,round ,rossetti and his buried poems a sort of legend had been growing up which1 aided by his fame as a painter1 guarded his work against the indifference with which a volume of verses by an unknown poet is bound to be received4 ,the book proved a great success and within a week or two ,rossetti found himself in possession of #cjj4 ,this success was not achieved without raising some jealousy4 ,mr4 ,buchanan1 under the pseudonym of ,thomas ,maitland rushed into print with the damning essay that appeared in the ,contemporary ,review for ,october #ahga1 under the title ,the ,fleshly ,school of ,poetry4 ,this attack was repeated by the same writer in a pamphlet4 ,rossetti in ill health and suffering from nervous fancies1 considered that there was a conspiracy against him1 a view that1 had his health been stronger1 he would not perhaps have adopted4 ,the publication of the article aggravated his insomnia4 ,dr4 ,gordon ,hake offered him his house at ,roehampton in order to procure a change for the sufferer1 who either by accident or of set purpose had taken the contents of a phial of laudanum1 and lay for two days between life and death4 ,prompt treatment1 and his strong constitution helped recovery4 ,he was taken to ,scotland where he resumed work on a replica of ,beata ,beatrix4 ,out-of-door exercise1 early hours1 and absence of worries1 helped a great deal to bring about his partial recovery4 ,in ,september #ahgb he left ,scotland and went to ,kelmscott where he shared a fine ,elizabethan manor house with ,william ,morris4 ,his work during #ahgb-ahgd consisted mostly in repainting many of his earlier pictures4 ,he worked again on ,lilith1 ,beloved1 ,monna ,vanna1 and others4 ,in ,july #ahgd he left ,kelmscott and came back to ,london1 never to return to the quiet manor house1 which from this time was in possession of ,morris alone4 ,besides retouching his earlier work during the time of his stay at ,kelmscott1 ,rossetti started a number of new canvases1 and made a certain number of studies for use in future work4 ,among them are3 ,rosa ,triplex1 three heads from the same sitter1 ,miss ,may ,morris4 ,this drawing is one of four or five versions4 ,a portrait in red chalk on grey-green paper of ,mrs4 ,w4 ,j4 ,stillman1 ,la ,donna de la ,fiamma1 and ,silence1 probably studies for pictures never painted1 the little head of a lady holding a small branch of rose-leaves called ,rose-leaf4 ,mariana1 an oil painting1 its title taken from a scene of ,measure for ,measure1 and ,a ,lady with a ,fan1 being a portrait of ,mrs4 ,schott1 were all prepared about this time4 ,he also started the first studies for his big picture1 ,dante's ,dream1 among them a study from ,mrs4 ,morris for the head of the dead ,beatrice1 a head of ,dante1 and studies for the two maidens holding the pall4 ,troy ,town1 after his own ballad1 and ,the ,death of ,lady ,macbeth1 are two designs for pictures never painted4 ,pandora was completed in #ahga4 ,water ,willow1 a portrait of ,mrs4 ,morris is specially interesting because the river landscape behind represents ,kelmscott4 ,a coloured chalk study for that picture exists1 the only difference between the portrait and the study being that the background of the latter represents a river without the view of ,kelmscott4 ,the ,dante's ,dream begun in #ahgj was finished towards the end of #ahga4 ,it is the largest picture ,rossetti ever painted1 the subject is that of the early water-colour of #ahef1 and the picture illustrates the following3 ,then ,love spoke thus3 ',now all shall be made clear2 ,come and behold our lady where she lies4' 99 99 99 99 99 ,then carried me to see my lady dead2 ,and standing at her head ,her ladies put a veil over her2 ,and with her was such very humbleness ,that she appeared to say1 ',i am at peace4' ,in the composition ,dante is led by ,love to where ,beatrice lies dead1 and ,love bends down to kiss her4 ,on either side of the bier where she lies1 two maidens dressed in green are holding a pall covered with ,may flowers and the floor is strewed with poppies1 emblem of death4 ,on each side of the picture there are winding staircases through which one sees the sunny streets of ,florence4 ,love is dressed in flame colour and birds of the same hue are flying about to suggest that the place is filled with the ,spirit of ,love4 ,proserpine was the next picture ,rossetti undertook4 ,it was begun on four canvases4 ,the fourth when finished was sold4 ,rossetti1 who at that time had assistants to help him in making the replicas of his earlier work1 painted to satisfy the demand of his patrons1 and much controversy raged round this picture4 ,it is impossible to say if it was entirely painted by him1 but he owned to it although it was not a good one4 ,the purchaser was dissatisfied so he agreed to take it back4 ,the three unfinished versions were cut down and transformed into heads1 one of which1 with the adding of some floral accessories1 and a slight change in the hands1 was called ,blanziflore or ,snowdrops4 ,one cannot help being a little puzzled by the notion of beginning four canvases of the same picture at the same time1 it suggests too much of the commercial spirit4 ,in #ahgb ,veronica ,veronese1 and the ,bower ,meadow1 were painted1 the former illustrating the following lines1 supposed to be a quotation taken from ,girolamo ,ridolfi's letters which are inscribed on the frame3 ,se penchant vivement la ,vronica jeta les premires notes sur la feuille vierge4 ,ensuite elle prit l'archet du violon pour raliser son rve2 mais avant de dcrocher l'instrument suspendu1 elle resta quelques instants immobile en coutant l'oiseau inspirateur1 pendant que sa main gauche errait sur les cordes cherchant le motif suprme encore loign4 ,c'tait le mariage des voix de la nature et de l'me--l'aube d'une cration mystique4 ,the ,lady ,veronica1 dressed in green1 is sitting in front of a little table on which is her music manuscript4 ,behind her on the left-hand top corner is a canary perched on a cage and at her side stands a glass of daffodils4 ,she is leaning forward as if listening to the bird1 plucking with her left hand the strings of a violin hanging on the wall in front of her while she holds the bow in her right hand4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,viii4--,,astarte ,,syriaca ,from the oil painting 7#gd in4 by #dc in47 now in the ,corporation ,art ,gallery at ,manchester ,this picture was painted for ,mr4 ,clarence ,fry of the firm ,elliot and ,fry1 in #ahgg and was first exhibited at the ,royal ,academy in #ahhc4 ,the ,bower ,meadow represents two women playing instruments and two dancing figures1 for which he made charming crayon studies4 ,all these figures were painted on an old background study of trees and foliage he had painted in #ahej1 in his ,pre-,raphaelite days when he was working with ,holman ,hunt4 ,the next great oil canvas is dated #ahgc1 and is called ,the ,ghirlandata4 ,to this year belongs ,ligeia ,siren1 a drawing of a sea-maiden playing on a musical instrument1 a preliminary study for ,sea ,spell4 ,the ,damsel of the ,sanc ,grael was painted in #ahgd2 it is a second version of that subject strangely showing the psychological change in ,rossetti4 ,the primitive simplicity so characteristic of the medival legend and also of his early work has disappeared4 ,the austere damsel has become a pretty girl1 with fair flowing hair1 who holds a goblet4 ,the unfinished ,boat of ,love was also begun in #ahgd4 ,rossetti came back to ,london in that year as has already been stated4 ,the dissolution of the firm ,morris1 ,marshall1 ,faulkner ,co4 took place at that time and was reconstituted under the sole management of ,morris4 ,the dissolution did not take place without a certain amount of friction1 caused by the disagreement between ,morris and ,brown4 ,rossetti seems to have taken ,brown's part1 and although ,rossetti and ,morris did not quarrel1 they saw very little of one another from that date4 ,but it is well to remember that ,rossetti lived a very secluded life1 seeing very few people and labouring under the delusion that a widespread conspiracy existed against him4 ,this was apparently one of the hallucinations resulting from the habitual use of chloral4 ,the end of #ahge and beginning of #ahgf were passed first in a house at ,bognor and after at a friend's in ,hampshire4 ,the artist was then working on his pictures1 ,the ,blessed ,damozel1 ,the ,spirit of the ,rainbow1 and ,forced ,music4 ,in #ahgg serious illness kept him two months in bed1 and when better he was taken to a little cottage near ,herne ,bay4 ,there he was able to resume his work and drew a crayon group of his mother and sister as well as two separate drawings of his sister and one of his mother4 ,to that year belongs the ,astarte ,syriaca 7now in the ,corporation ,art ,gallery of ,manchester74 ,the ,syrian ,venus stands against a red sunset sky in which the moon is rising1 gazing full face1 with large dreamy eyes4 ,on the right and left two angel figures1 holding torches1 look upwards4 ,in that year the ,grosvenor ,gallery was founded and ,madox ,brown1 ,rossetti1 and ,burne-,jones were asked to exhibit4 ,madox ,brown and ,rossetti refused1 but ,burne-,jones accepted4 ,the exhibition of his work there brought him the enormous popularity he enjoyed4 ,down to that time the public curiosity which had been roused by the controversies following the forming of the ,p4,r4,b4 had not been satisfied4 ,,vii ,after #ahgg ,rossetti kept strictly to his house at #af ,cheyne ,walk visited only by a few faithful friends4 ,he began to write again in #ahgh4 ,by ,march #ahha he had enough material for a new volume1 ,ballads and ,sonnets1 the ,,ms4 of which was offered to and accepted by ,messrs4 ,ellis ,white on the same terms as his first book1 now out of print after running into a sixth edition4 ,the ,ballads and ,sonnets met with quite as great success as the earlier volume1 this time without any discordant note of criticism4 ,in this year ,rossetti sold his great picture of ,dante's ,dream to the ,corporation of ,liverpool4 ,the two finished works of #ahgh are3 ,a ,vision of ,fiametta1 and a water-colour called ,bruna ,brunelleschi4 ,to that year must be added the unfinished design called ,desdemona's ,death ,song1 various studies for the figure of ,desdemona1 a design of the entire composition done on a scale about half-life size1 as well as a beginning of the picture on canvas1 which was not continued4 ,the ,faust subject that he intended to paint1 ,gretchen1 or ,risen at ,dawn1 was not more advanced4 ,as time went on and his health failed his output diminished4 ,in #ahgi ,rossetti painted a replica of the ,blessed ,damozel with its predella1 changing the background of lovers and substituting two angels' heads4 ,la ,donna de la ,fenestra was also completed in that year4 ,in #ahhj and #ahha ,rossetti was working on three large pictures1 ,the ,day ,dream1 ,the ,salutation of ,beatrice1 and ,la ,pia1 as well as on ,found1 the early attempt at a modern subject that he was never able to finish4 ,he painted several replicas1 the most important being a smaller version of ,dante's ,dream4 ,the ,daydream begun in #ahfh was also completed at this time and the picture has since been given to the ,south ,kensington ,museum by its owner ,mr4 ,ionids4 ,the ,salutation of ,beatrice is quite different from the earlier design of the same name and shows those defects of his later work that we have pointed out2 it was not quite finished at the time of his death4 ,la ,pia is the last picture painted and shows the same faults as the last mentioned4 ,in ,september #ahha ,rossetti went for a trip in the lake district of ,cumberland accompanied by ,mr4 ,hall ,caine1 but after a month his health grew worse and he returned in haste to ,london4 ,a few days later he became so ill that he required very careful nursing4 ,after a partial recovery from this illness he was once more interrupted in his work by an attack of nervous paralysis1 which seized him suddenly4 ,this last attack was due to the chloral he had been in the habit of taking for so long and it was then strictly forbidden4 ,the habit of so many years was not to be broken without much discomfort and suffering1 but he gradually got better4 ,as soon as he was well enough he was taken to ,birchington-on-,sea in ,february #ahhb1 there he managed to work a little1 but was soon attacked by an old disorder1 and in his weakened state of health he could not throw it off4 ,he grew weaker and worse4 ,death came with the #ajth of ,april #ahhb1 and the painter poet is buried in the little churchyard of ,birchington4 ,in the last days of his life1 when he could paint no more1 he made an attempt to finish the story of ,st4 ,agnes of ,intercession which was begun for the ,germ1 he also completed the ballad of ,jan ,van ,hunks1 and wrote a couple of sonnets for his drawing called the ,question4 ,most of the critics who have written on ,rossetti deplore the fact that he did not learn to paint1 but to artists one of the greatest charms of his pictures 7especially the early ones7 is the unexpectedness of their composition4 ,we owe that charm in a great measure to the fact that happily he had not been spoiled by the sophisticated teaching of ,academic ,schools1 but had kept the bloom of his poetical inspiration4 ,we must thank the instinct of the young man1 which made him avoid a teaching which is bound to be fatal to both realism and romanticism4 ,it may be that he himself deplored the lack of training at certain moments of discouragement in his life1 but the kind of training available at the time of his dbut would not have added much to his achievement4 ,he managed to say what he had to say1 and in many cases to say it well4 ,he saved himself the loss of time necessary to forget certain of the artistic prjugs then in vogue1 they would have been very much in his way1 even if he had quite succeeded in getting rid of them4 ,the rather amateurish side to ,rossetti's art is vastly compensated for by the precious qualities he has been able to preserve4 ,it is unfortunate that1 through his refusal to exhibit1 the public has been acquainted first with his later work1 which shows the decline of his faculties caused by his ill health4 ,neither the fresh creations of his early work nor the gorgeous pieces of his middle period are as well known as they deserve to be4 ,as a young man ,rossetti possessed an extraordinary influence over the members of the group round him4 ,later when his work became less sincere his influence declined and what promised to be at the beginning a great renaissance of the ,english ,school has ended with him4 ,such a disaster is certain to befall the school or the artists who do not refresh themselves continually by the communion with nature4 ,ruskin says in his ,pre-,raphaelitism3 ,if they adhere to their principles1 and paint nature as it is around them1 with the help of modern science1 with the earnestness of the men of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries1 they will1 as ,i said1 found a new and noble school in ,england4 ,if their sympathies with the early artists lead them into medivalism or ,romanism1 they will of course come to nothing4 ,these words were prophetic4 ,the plates are printed by ,,bemrose ,,sons1 ,,ltd41 ,derby and ,london ,the text at the ,,ballantyne ,,press1 ,edinburgh ,transcriber's ,note ,text in italics was surrounded by underscores and text in small capitals was changed to all capitals4 ,a few apparently missing periods were added4 ,otherwise the original was preserved4