Fans of pre-Raphaelite art will be thrilled by this exhibition
The Rossettis were a “weird” bunch, said Melanie McDonagh in the Evening Standard. Born in London to Italian political exiles and raised to be “precocious artists and poets”, they were a major fixture of Victorian Britain’s cultural landscape. Dante Gabriel (1828-82), a painter, would become the co-founder and de facto leader of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, renowned for his “manic”, pseudo-medieval depictions of long-haired “stunners”; Christina (1830-94) was a celebrated poet; and William and Maria, the youngest siblings, were writers too. This new exhibition focuses on Dante Gabriel’s paintings and Christina’s poetry, but it also includes some of the art of Dante Gabriel’s wife, Elizabeth Siddal. Featuring “splendid” loans alongside much-loved paintings from our national collections, the show argues that this trio of creative spirits truly pushed the boundaries of 19th century British art, and dared to subvert the era’s sexual and political mores. Fans of pre-Raphaelite art will be thrilled. “If bee-stung lips, voluminous hair and languor are your thing, look no further.”
