Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882) was a British painter, poet and founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, whose work helped redefine the aesthetic and spiritual ambitions of Victorian art. Born in London to an Italian émigré scholar and raised in an intellectually rich household, Rossetti was deeply influenced by medieval literature, Renaissance art and Romantic poetry from a young age. He studied at the Royal Academy Schools and later under Ford Madox Brown, but quickly rejected academic conventions in favour of a more emotive, symbolic and detailed style.
In 1848, Rossetti co-founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood alongside William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. United by a desire to return to the sincerity and rich detail of early Renaissance painting, the group championed realism, complex symbolism and literary sources. Rossetti’s early works, such as The Girlhood of Mary Virgin (1849), combined religious themes with intricate naturalism and elaborate iconography.
From the 1860s onward, Rossetti developed a more sensual, introspective aesthetic, often depicting idealised female figures drawn from myth, allegory and literature. These portraits — many featuring his muse Elizabeth Siddal and later Jane Morris — emphasised mood, colour and psychological depth, reflecting a shift towards the Aesthetic movement. His best-known paintings from this period, including Beata Beatrix (c. 1864–70) and Proserpine (1874), are celebrated for their intense atmosphere and layered symbolism.
A prolific poet as well as a painter, Rossetti’s dual talents often intertwined, with many of his paintings accompanied by verses. His collection Poems (1870) and The House of Life sonnet sequence explored themes of love, loss and artistic creation, further cementing his status as a leading figure of 19th-century British art and literature.
Rossetti’s influence extended beyond his lifetime, shaping Symbolist and Aesthetic movements across Europe. His work is held in major institutions including Tate Britain, the Ashmolean Museum and the Delaware Art Museum.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (British, 1828-1882)
Proserpine
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
The Salutation of Beatrice
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Rosa Triplex: A triple portrait of May Morris
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Washing Hands
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Portrait of Jane Morris, bust-length
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
A woman combing her hair; Fanny Cornforth
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Study for 'Desdemona's Death Song'
James Smetham (1821-1881)
The Mandolin
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Maria Stillman, née Spartali
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI (BRITISH 1828-1882)
Study of Alexa Wilding, her head turned three-quarters to the right
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Head study of Marie Spartali Stillman (1844-1927) for 'Dante's Dream'
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
A Christmas Carol
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Joan of Arc
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Portrait of Annie Miller
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Portrait of Edith Williams, later Lady Griffith-Boscawen, bust-length in profile to the right with her hair flowing over her shoulders
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Portrait of Annie Miller
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI (LONDRES 1828 - 1882 BIRCHINGTON-ON-SEA, KENT)
Etude pour Joli Coeur
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI (BRITISH, 1828-1882)
Study for 'Joli Coeur'
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Head of Proserpine, unfinished
Circle of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Beata Beatrix
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Ruth and Boaz
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Study of a female head, in three-quarter-profile to the left, holding a flower stem
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Portrait of a lady, bust-length
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Study of Fanny Cornforth, bust-length
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Study of a girl for 'The Return of Tibullus to Delia'
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
The Queen's Page
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Study for figures in 'The Blessed Damozel'
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Portrait of Annie Miller, bust-length, in profile to the left
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Desdemona's Death Song: a fragment
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
A study of Mrs Frederick Leyland, bust-length, for 'Monna Rosa'
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Lachesis: Study of Jane Morris seated in a chair sewing
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI (BRITISH 1828-1882)
A study of Mrs Frederick Leyland, bust-length, for 'Monna Rosa'
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI (BRITISH, 1828-1882)
Elizabeth Siddal
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Study for 'Hamlet and Ophelia'
After Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Monna Vanna
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Study of Jane Morris asleep in an upholstered armchair
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Female Head in Profile (Tête de femme de profil)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Portrait of Margaret Thompson, half-length, in profile to the right
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Portrait of Annie Miller, bust-length, in profile to left
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
A Fight for a Woman
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Lady Anne Bothwell's Lament
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Portrait of William Michael Rossetti, half-length, seated, turned to the right with his head in profile
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
St John comforting the Virgin at the foot of the cross (After the Ninth Hour)
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI, AFTER (1828-1882)
MUSIC, FROM KING RENE'S HONEYMOON, CIRCA 1880
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Study for 'The Blessed Damozel'
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Portrait of Henry Polidori
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Hesterna Rosa
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Portrait of William Michael Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Portrait of Charlotte Polidori, small three-quarter-length, in a brown dress