1828 -1882 · Pre-Raphaelitism, poetry and symbolist beauty

Enigmatic women, flowers full of meaning, medieval legends and love poetry make Rossetti a central figure of Pre-Raphaelitism.

Born in London in 1828 into a literate Italian family, Dante Gabriel Rossetti chose painting and poetry as two inseparable forms of expression. In 1848, with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, he founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which boasts a frank color, precise detail and sincerity prior to Raphael. His first works draw on the Bible, Dante, Shakespeare and Arthurian legends, often in small formats close to illumination. Elizabeth Siddal became his model, his student and then his wife; his death in 1862 nourished the meditative image of Beata Beatrix. Elizabeth Siddal became his model, his student and then his wife; his death in 1862 nourished the Bible, Dante, Shakespeare and Arthurian legends, often in small formats close to illumination. Elizabeth Siddal became his model, his student and then his wife; his death in 1862 nourished the meditative image of Beata Beatrix. From the 1860s, Rossetti developed large female portraits sensual, surrounded by flowers, jewelry and instruments, with Fanny Cornforth, Alexa Wilding and Jane Morris. Proserpine, Monna Vanna and Astarté Syriac announce European symbolism. Translator of Italian poetry and author of collections, Rossetti constantly united text, image, desire and memory until his death in 1882. The "Dante Gabriel Rossetti" selection notably pits Proserpine and Monna Vanna against each other. His reading favors figures.

Rossetti paints less of a portrait than a poetic state: the face, the flower, the color and the verse become signs of the same desire.