Profil de SusanThe Poets' SpacePhotosBlogListesPlus  |  Outils Aide |
|
25 novembre Venus Verticordia, 1863-1869
A little space her glance is still and coy; ~Dante Gabriel Rossetti 17 novembre The Girlhood of Mary Virgin, 1848-1849Mary's Girlhood (for a Picture)
I. This is that blessed Mary, pre-elect, God's Virgin. Gone is a great while, and she Dwelt young in Nazareth of Galilee. Unto God's will she brought devout respect, Profound simplicity of intellect, And supreme patience. From her mother's knee Faithful and hopeful; wise in charity; Strong in grave peace; in pity circumspect. So held she through her girlhood; as it were
An angel-watered lily, that near God Grows and is quiet. Till, one dawn at home, She woke in her white bed, and had no fear At all, -- yet wept till sunshine, and felt awed; Because the fulness of the time was come. II.
These are the symbols. On that cloth of red I' the centre is the Tripoint: perfect each, Except the centre of its points, to teach That Christ is not yet born. The books -- whose head Is golden Charity, as Paul hath said -- Those virtues are wherein the soul is rich; Therefore on them the lily standeth, which Is innocence, being interpreted. The seven-thorn'd brier and palm seven-leaved
Are her great sorrow and her great reward Until the end be full, the Holy One Abides without. She soon shall have achieved Her perfect purity: yea, God the Lord Shall soon vouchsafe His Son to be her Son. ~Dante Gabriel Rossetti
15 novembre Proserpine, 1874Afar away the light that brings cold cheer
Unto this wall, - one instant and no more Admitted at my distant palace-door Afar the flowers of Enna from this drear Dire fruit, which, tasted once, must thrall me here. Afar those skies from this Tartarean grey That chills me: and afar how far away, The nights that shall become the days that were. Afar from mine own self I seem, and wing Strange ways in thought, and listen for a sign: And still some heart unto some soul doth pine, O, Whose sounds mine inner sense in fain to bring, Continually together murmuring -- 'Woe me for thee, unhappy Proserpine.' ~Dante Gabriel Rossetti 13 novembre La Donna della Finestra, 1879-1880Translated title: The Lady of the Window Love's pallor and the semblance of deep ruth Were never yet shown forth so perfectly In any lady's face, chancing to see Grief's miserable countenance uncouth, As in thine, lady, they have sprung to soothe, When in mine anguish thou hast lookd on me; Until sometimes it seems as if, through thee, My heart might almost wander from its truth. Yet so it is, I cannot hold mine eyes From gazing very often upon thine In the sore hope to shed those tears they keep; And at such time, thou mak'st the pent tears rise Even to the brim, till the eyes waste and pine; Yet cannot they, while thou art present, weep. ~Dante Gabriel Rossetti Description / Expertise from Peter Nahum At The Leicester Galleries
The subject of 'La Donna della Finestra' derives from Dante Alighieri's autobiographical Vita Nuova, the book that did most to shape Rossetti's attitudes to love. It tells, in a symbolical and mystical fashion, the history of Dante's love for Beatrice. Rossetti translated it into English around 1850 and published it with other translations from the Early Italian poets in 1861. The Vita Nuova inspired Rossetti's paintings and designs throughout his career. He first treated 'La Donna della Finestra' in 1870 and from this date it became one of his favourite Dante subjects. The figure of the Woman at the Window appears when Dante is sunk deep in grief for the death of Beatrice. Dante speaks; 'Then, having sat for some space sorely in thought because of the time that was now past, I was filled with dolorous imaginings that it became outwardly manifest in mine altered countenance. Whereupon, feeling this and being in dread lest any should have seen me, I lifted my eyes to look; and then perceived a young and very beautiful lady, who was gazing upon me from a window with a gaze full of pity, so that the very sum of of pity appeared gathered together in her'. 'Humanly she is the Lady at the Window; mentally she is the Lady of Pity. This interpretation of soul and body - this sense of an equal and undefensible reality of the thing symbolized, and of the form which conveys the symbol - this externalism and internalism - are constantly to be understood as the key-note of Rossetti's aim and performance in art.' The sitter for this work was Jane Morris, with whom Rossetti fell in love in about 1868. It is significant that he chose to represent her as 'La Donna Della Finestra', suggesting that he felt she brought him consolation for the death of his wife, Elizabeth Siddal, whom he regarded as his Beatrice. Yet as Rossetti's love for Jane deepened he represented her as Beatrice also, for instance in the large oil painting 'Dante's Dream at the time of the Death of Beatrice' (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool). The owner of the present drawing was William Graham, who was, with Frederick Leyland, Rossetti's most important patron. He began to buy from Rossetti in the mid 1860s, but was not just important as a purchaser. His fine collection of early Italian paintings (the original Pre-Raphaelites) helped to inspire Rossetti and the other artists whom Graham supported including Edward Burne-Jones. An insight into the scope of Graham's collection is given by the catalogue of his posthumous sale at Christies April 1886, and it is currently being researched by Oliver Garnett. Graham owned a number of works by Rossetti. When they came onto the market, in 1874 and 1885 respectively, Graham grasped the opportunity and bought his two Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood oils, 'Ecce Ancilla Domini' (1850) and 'The Girlhood of Mary Virgin' (1849) both now in the Tate Gallery. He also commissioned the large 'Dante's Dream', although this ultimately proved too big for his London House. Graham regarded the present drawing with particular affection, writing to Rossetti in 1879, 'I must add one line to say how much I was charmed with the "Donna della Finestra" which I look at as one of your most successful single figures.' The second owner of the drawing, Major C.S. Goldman, was Burne-Jones's neighbour in Rottingdean in the 1890s. His son changed his surname to Monck. 12 novembre Mariana in the Moated Grange, 1851All day within the dreamy house,
The doors upon their hinges creak'd; The blue fly sung in the pane; the mouse Behind the mouldering wainscot shriek'd, Or from the crevice peer'd about. Old faces glimmer'd thro' the doors, Old footsteps trod the upper floors, Old voices call'd her from without. She only said, 'My life is dreary, He cometh not,' she said; She said, 'I am aweary, aweary,' I would that I were dead!' ~Alfred, Lord Tennyson, from Mariana (1830) The painting by John Everett Millais
is located in The Tate Collection
The Eve of Saint Agnes, 1848The flight of Madeline and Porphyro during the Drunkenness attending the Revelry Eve of Saint Agnes.
John Keats, The Eve of St. Agnes [William Holman] Hunt's painting illustrates the penultimate verse of the poem, in which the two lovers are described as escaping.
The following lines from Keats's poem were included in the catalogue of the 1848 Royal Academy Exhibition when the larger version was first shown [National Museums Liverpool]: They glide, like phantoms into the wide hall;
Like phantoms, to the iron porch they glide; Where lay the Porter, in uneasy sprawl, With a huge empty flagon by his side: The wakeful bloodhound rose, and shook his hide, But his sagacious eye an inmate owns; By one, and one, the bolts full easy slide:- The chains lie silent on the footworn stones The key turns, and the door upon its hinges groans. 11 novembre La Bella Mano, 1875Translated title: The Beautiful Hand In royal wise ring-girt and bracelet-spann’d A flower of Venus’ own virginity, Go shine among thy sisterly sweet band; In maiden-minded converse delicately Evermore white and soft; until thou be, O hand! heart-handsel’d in a lover’s hand. ~Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Astarte Syriaca, 1875-1877Translated title: Syrian Astarte Mystery: lo! betwixt the sun and moon Astarte of the Syrians: Venus Queen Ere Aphrodite was. In silver sheen Her twofold girdle clasps the infinite boon Of bliss whereof the heaven and earth commune: And from her neck's inclining flower-stem lean Love-freighted lips and absolute eyes that wean The pulse of hearts to the spheres' dominant tune. Torch-bearing, her sweet ministers compel All thrones of light beyond the sky and sea The witnesses of Beauty's face to be: That face, of Love's all-penetrative spell Amulet, talisman, and oracle, — Betwixt the sun and moon a mystery. ~Dante Gabriel Rossetti 2 novembre Aspecta Medusa (For A Drawing), 1867Andromeda, by Perseus sav'd and wed,
Hanker'd each day to see the Gorgon's head: Till o'er a fount he held it, bade her lean, And mirror'd in the wave was safely seen That death she liv'd by. Let not thine eyes know Any forbidden thing itself, although It once should save as well as kill: but be Its shadow upon life enough for thee. ~Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1 novembre A Sea Spell, 1877Her lute hangs shadowed in the apple-tree,
While flashing fingers weave the sweet-strung spell Between its chords; and as the wild notes swell, The sea-bird for those branches leaves the sea. But to what sound her listening ear stoops she? What netherworld gulf-whispers doth she hear, In answering echoes from what planisphere, Along the wind, along the estuary? She sinks into her spell: and when full soon Her lips move and she soars into her song, What creatures of the midmost main shall throng In furrowed self-clouds to the summoning rune, Till he, the fated mariner, hears her cry, And up her rock, bare breasted, comes to die? ~Dante Gabriel Rossetti |
|
|
