Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Born in London in 1828, Dante Gabriel Rossetti grew up in a notably literary and artistic family. He became one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848, alongside William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and quickly stood out for combining the roles of poet, painter, illustrator, and translator.

Rossetti’s art and writing often drew on medieval literature, Dante, and legend, but they also carried a very personal emotional charge. He is closely associated with works such as The Blessed Damozel and with the rich, dreamlike paintings that helped shape the look of later Victorian art. His marriage to artist and model Elizabeth Siddal, and the story of his complicated private life, have remained part of the fascination surrounding him.

In later years, Rossetti became an important influence on a younger generation of writers and artists. He died in 1882 in Birchington-on-Sea, Kent, leaving behind a body of work that still feels distinctive for its mixture of romance, symbolism, and imaginative intensity.