Previously Unseen Dante Gabriel Rossetti Portrait Goes on View for the First Time

"Unlike Rossetti's Pre-Raphaelite paintings of winsome maidens surrounded by flowers, the 1877 chalk portrait of his sister offers a flat, realistic impression. She wears an impenetrable expression and dull-colored clothing that blends into an unadorned background. The somber tone is the product of family tragedy: Christina remains in mourning following the death of her older sister Maria, a writer and Anglican nun, in 1876."

"Created on the north Kent coast, where the painter had decamped to escape depression and the pressures of London, it is, in effect, a tribute to Maria and an acknowledgement of the grief that Christina and Dante share. As his younger brother William would write a decade later, the portrait had a positive effect: 'The experiment turned out a complete success. [Dante] perceived at once that nothing but an effort of will was needed to enable him to continue working at his art.'"

A previously unseen portrait of poet Christina Rossetti by her painter brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti serves as the centerpiece of an exhibition at Wightwick Manor. Created in 1877 on the Kent coast, the chalk drawing depicts Christina in mourning following their sister Maria's death in 1876. Unlike Dante's typical Pre-Raphaelite works, this portrait presents a realistic, somber image with muted tones and an unadorned background. The artist created it while recovering from depression, and the work proved therapeutic, helping him resume his artistic practice. The exhibition explores the Rossetti family's artistic legacy and collaborations among its members.

Read at Artnet News