elizabeth siddal

[ladyaudley]

Best remembered for being the model for Millais' Ophelia (during the painting of which she almost died of a fever due to being in the freezing water) and Rossetti's wife, Lizzie Siddal was one of the most popular models of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. She was also herself a poet and artist

Comments

[carbonpaper]

Wow, interesting.

[sarah_eilonwy]

These are amazing. Thank you.

[ladyaudley]

You're very welcome! I'm rather overlly fond of anybody and anything connected to Dante Gabriel Rossetti. I ought to do posts on some of his other models :)

[exit_to_nowhere]

I didn't know that, very interesting.

[ladyaudley]

It really is interesting. The relationship between Miss Siddal and Rossetti was a fascinating one - and it really deserves to be taken more seriously. They were on-off for years, engaged for a long long time but he kept chickening out. His parents were opposed to the match, you see, and I think he was a bit scared of settling down. Alas, she died two years after they were eventually married and he never remarried although he had numerous mistresses, most notably Jane Morris, the wife of his friend William Morris, and Fanny Cornforth who lived with him as his 'housekeeper'.

I'm such a Rossetti geek! But I think he was really very interesting. Yeah. Hah.

[exit_to_nowhere]

wow, thanks for the information - I'll have to look this up more. :D