Saturday, February 26, 2011

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood: Dante Gabriel Rosetti

Dante Gabriel Rosetti, Self-portrait, 1847

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood consisted of a group of Englishmen who were both poets and painters. They formed this brotherhood in mid 19th century and its forerunners were William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. These dudes thought that after Raphael and Michalengelo the process of painting started to mechanize, they criticized that and wanted to go back to details, intense colours, and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian and Flemish art. According to the Wikipedia, their movement was claimed as the first avant garde movement in art but I don't know about that. They even printed a journal at that time which constantly presents their ideas about their art, their views on art and so on.

Dante Gabriel Rosetti, Lady Lilith, 1868

Enough with others; Rosetti was the shining element among these. First of all, he was a solid poet that have a certain attitutude. While reading, he makes you clearly visualize and audiolize the moment and happenings in a limited amount of time with a slow motion mode. His paintings were nothing less but the thing wanted to be emphasized in his paintings that, they have the same woman over and over even if he paints different people. Let's have a look.

Dante Gabriel Rosetti, Portrait of Marie Spartali Stillman, 1869
A Photograph of real Marie Spartali Stillman, 1868.
Photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron. 
Dude come on now, she is not even close! That poor guy had painted the same woman under different names and historical characters numerous times. He just changed his hair or skin color sometimes. Some say the women is her sister and others believe it was an unrequited love. All in all, he seemed to have a crush on this woman and she seems just beautiful.

Dante Gabriel Rosetti, Jane Morris The Blue Silk Dress, 1868
Dante Gabriel Rosetti, Pia de' Tolomei, 1868-1880
Dante Gabriel Rosetti, The Roseleaf (Portrait of Jane Morris), 1870

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