Rossetti, Dante Gabriel (1828-1882)
Beata Beatrix
c.1864–1870
Oil on canvas, 86.4 x 66 cm
Tate Britain, London
Dante Gabriel Rossetti identified closely with the medieval poet Dante Alighieri. Rossetti saw his own despair at the death of his wife, the artist and poet Elizabeth Siddal, through Dante’s writings about the death of his beloved, Beatrice Portinari. Beata Beatrix pictures Siddal as Portinari in a dreamlike Florentine setting. Siddal’s death is re-imagined as a ‘spiritual transfiguration’. As an omen of death, a bird drops a white poppy between her open hands. In the background, Dante looks across at the figure of Love who holds the flame of life, and a sundial marks the time of her passing. (Tate)
Compare:
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel (1828-1882)
Beata Beatrix
1871–1872
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
See also:
• Alighieri, Dante (1265-1321) | Portinari, Beatrice (c.1266-1290) | Siddal, Elizabeth (1829-1862)