Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born in London in 1828 as the second child of an Italian political exile and a mother of half-Italian descent. From the beginning, his home was filled with literature and ideas—his father was a scholar of Dante, which explains Rossetti's name. He grew up viewing painting and poetry as intertwined pursuits rather than separate paths.
At just nineteen, in 1848, he helped establish the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood alongside William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. The group aimed to challenge what they saw as the rigid conventions that had taken hold in British art since Raphael, seeking to rediscover something more authentic and spiritually honest. Their name was intentionally provocative, and critics initially dismissed them. However, John Ruskin eventually recognized their talent and became their advocate, which significantly boosted their reputation.
“Rossetti's personal life was tumultuous and directly influenced his art.”
He married the model and poet Elizabeth Siddal in 1860 after a long and complicated courtship. Tragically, she died from a laudanum overdose in 1862. In an act of sorrow—or guilt, depending on whom you ask—Rossetti buried a manuscript of his poems with her. He had it exhumed seven years later to publish the collection, a story that has lingered around his legacy ever since.
After Siddal's passing, his home at Cheyne Walk in Chelsea became a hub for a new generation of artists and writers. Algernon Charles Swinburne lived there for a while, and he maintained close ties with William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. His influence reached beyond his circle, contributing to the Aesthetic movement and influencing European Symbolism.
