Dante Gabriel Rossetti (redirected from Charles Dante Gabriel Rossetti)

Rossetti, Dante Gabriel 

(real name, Gabriel Dante Rossetti). Born May 12, 1828, in London; died Apr. 9, 1882, in Birchington-on-Sea, Kent. English painter and poet, one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. Son of G. Rossetti.

Rossetti studied in London at Sass’ drawing school (from 1843) and at the Academy of Arts (from 1845). He later studied with F. M. Brown. Rejecting the art of his day as vulgarly prosaic, Rossetti turned to Italian primitive painting as his source of inspiration. He borrowed themes from Italian medieval and Early Renaissance poetry (especially that of Dante), medieval legends and chronicles, and the works of the English romantics.

Rossetti endowed his works with a certain sensuousness and, at the same time, with elements of mysticism (for example, the painting The Girlhood of the Virgin, 1849, Tate Gallery, London; the poem “The Blessed Damozel,” 1850). His paintings, which were almost unfailingly depictions of women, paradoxically combine the intense feelings of his heroines with static and frozen poses and gestures. The figures are given three-dimensionality, yet the background is decorative, often with floral ornamentation, and executed in brilliant colors and delicate lines that in many ways anticipated the art nouveau style (for example, Beata Beatrix, 1863, Tate Gallery, London; Dante’s Dream, 1870–71, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool).

Rossetti’s poetry is noted for its lively and vivid imagery, fluid language, and precise metaphors. It is marked by unexpected associations and vivid detail (for example, the collections Poems, 1870; Ballads and Sonnets, vols. 1–2, 1881). A number of Rossetti’s poems are devoted to the Italian people’s struggle for liberation.

Rossetti illustrated and designed many books. He and W. Morris designed wall panels and stained-glass windows. Rossetti also produced a number of monumental decorative paintings.

WORKS

Collected Works, vols. 1–2. London, 1890.
The Complete Poetical Works. Boston, 1903.
Letters, vols. 1–4. Oxford, 1965–67.
In Russian translation:
In the book Antologiia novoi angliiskoipoezii. Leningrad, 1937.

REFERENCES

Istoriia angliiskoi literatury, vol. 3. Moscow, 1958. Pages 23–28.
Johnston, R. D. D. G. Rossetti. New York, 1969.
Surtees, V. The Paintings and Drawings of D. G. Rossetti, vols. 1–2. Oxford, 1971.

T. I. VOLODINA