PRB - Part Three

I've been invisible for a few weeks.  Lots happening with Mom - moved her to a different nursing home.  It is AWESOME!  I decorated her room so it's more like her home.  The care, compassion and attention to details by the staff is amazing.  We attend daily mass and she gets her vodka tonic every day at 4PM.  She and my step-father used to have their one drink every day at 4PM before her stroke.  They also attended mass each and every day.  Anything we can do to make her life more familiar is a blessing.

Last time I posted, I shared John Ruskin's support of Lizzie Siddal and also her addiction to laudanum. Now we'll explore the tumultuous relationship between Siddal and Rossetti.

When Rossetti met Lizzie, he was smitten with her beauty.  She was what the PRB called "a stunner".  He began using her exclusively as the model in his paintings beginning in 1853 with his watercolor "The First Anniversary of the Death of Beatrice".  After becoming engaged to Rossetti, Siddal began to study with him, becoming both his mistress and his student.

Rossetti, however, was not one to remain faithful to his fiancé.  He reportedly had several affairs during the course of their engagement.  Lizzie was insecure with their relationship and used her frail health (brought on by an addiction to laudanum and a tendency toward anorexia) to repeatedly manipulate Rossetti and regain his attention whenever she believed he had strayed.  Countless times she was considered to be near death.  When Rossetti would get word she was close to death's door, he would rush to her side.  She would miraculously recover once he appeared.

Lizzie and Rossetti made each other indescribably happy as well as sad.  Their marriage was doomed form the start.  Rossetti was reluctant to propose marriage, supposedly in part because of Lizzie's working class background.  Waiting for years for Rossetti to consent to marriage took its toll on Lizzie's health.  Lizzie's supporter, John Ruskin, scolded Rossetti in his letters for not marrying Lizzie and giving her the security she needed.  During this period she also began to write poetry, often with dark themes about lost love or the impossibility of true love.

Siddal travelled to Paris and Nice several years for her health.  She returned to England in 1860 to marry Rossetti.  They were married May 23, 1860.  She lived five minutes away from the small church in Hastings at the time of her wedding.  Though the walk was a short distance, she was so frail she had to be carried to the church.  The marriage to her lover had finally taken place.  By this time her health had degraded to badly, she was severely depressed and very ill.

In 1861, Lizzie became pregnant.  She and Rossetti were overjoyed about the pregnancy.  The pregnancy ended in a stillborn daughter in 1862.  Sadly, shortly after the death of their daughter, Lizzie committed suicide by taking an overdose of laudanum.  She was 32 years old.

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood - Part 1

I gave you an insight into redheads and the ordeals they faced over the centuries last week. Today I'll introduce you to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the “face” of the Pre-Raphaelites, the very first supermodel, Elizabeth Siddal.

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (known as “PRB”) was founded in London in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poets, artists and critics.

They named themselves “Pre-Raphaelite” because they believed the classical poses and elegant compositions of Raphael in particular had been a corrupting influence on the academic teaching of art.

The fact Elizabeth Siddal (known as “Lizzie”) achieved such prominence was a remarkable feat given just about everything about her went against the standards of what was popular in Victorian times.  She had flowing, wavy locks of red hair, was tall and slender with large eyes.  In 1849, when she was 20 years old, Lizzie worked as a milliner in London. She made a meager salary of 24 pounds a year but soon discovered she could make more than double as a model for artists.  Being a model during this era was not viewed as socially acceptable.  No woman with morals would consider such a profession.

Lizzie was discovered by Walter Deverell in 1849 and, through him, was introduced to the PRB.  While posing for Millais' Ophelia (1852), Siddal had floated in a bathtub full of water to model the drowning Ophelia. 

Millais painted daily into the winter with Siddal modeling. He put lamps under the tub to warm the water. On one occasion the lamps went out and the water slowly became icy cold. Millais was absorbed by his painting and did not notice the lamps were no longer working. Siddal, however, did not complain and eventually became very sick with a severe cold or pneumonia.

From 1853 on, Lizzie was the primary model for Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  After he met her he began to paint her to the exclusion of almost all other models and he insisted she stop modeling for the other Pre-Raphaelites.  Lizzie was interested in art and showed promise as an artist and poet in her own right.  After meeting Rossetti, she became his student and struggled to be recognized as an artist in a world dominated by men.   

More next time - Happy stitching!  Cheers!

Redheads - OH MY!

My daughter, Sarah, has been blessed with gorgeous red hair and she comes by it rightly.  My grandfather’s nickname was “Red”; when I was young,  my hair was as red as Sarah’s.  (Now it's more gray then red - HA! ).  I have pictures of the two of us when she was small and our hair color was exactly the same.  I remember detesting my red hair as I was growing up.  I wanted to be blonde – you know, “Blondes have more fun!”  My daughter also wished she had different hair until she was in her 20s.  Now she loves it.

A portrait of Sarah I painted on an 8x10 porcelain tile

Throughout history, being a redhead was not necessarily a healthy thing to be.  Redheads have been subjected to discrimination and fearful prejudice, being viewed as untrustworthy, mischievous, temperamental, and lustful. In ancient Egypt, red hair was seen as so unlucky, red-haired girls were burned alive. According to Greek myths, redheads turn into vampires when they die.

In medieval Europe, the infamous witch-hunting manual, Malleus Maleficarum, instructed that red hair and green eyes were marks of a witch, as were freckles (which most redheads are prone to have). This belief might have stemmed from the general consensus that redheads were evil, wanton, and hot-tempered. In the Bible, Mary Magdalene and Judas Iscariot are often portrayed as redheads, as was Lilith, Adam’s first wife who insisted on sexual equality. Even Jonathan Swift, in his 1726 classic Gulliver’s Travels, characterized redheads as being wanton and promiscuous.

Elizabeth Siddall was Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s model in the 1850s until her death in 1862.  Her image is recognized worldwide as the model for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.  She had glorious red hair which was not considered socially acceptable in the Victorian era.

Beata Beatrix by Rossetti

Over the years, I’ve studied the paintings of Master Artists who have lived through the centuries.  Through this study, their paintings take on more life and meaning as I learn more about their lives and come to understand their trials and tribulations.  

I'll share what I've learned about Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelites soon.  It's absolutely FASCINATING!!

What does this have to do with cross stitch and needlework?  Stay tuned ;)

Happy stitching -
Cheers!