Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Roman de la Rose

1864

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On loan

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery (Bristol, UK): Pre-Raphaelite Knights: Re inventing the medieval world in Victorian Britain

Artist: Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828–1882
Medium: Watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 343 × 343 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Presented by Andrew Bain 1925
Reference: N04089

Display caption

Rossetti's inspiration for this watercolour was the thirteenth-century French poem of the same name, which is a complex allegory about love and loss. The picture's shallow depth, and its rich decoration, are clearly inspired by medieval illuminated manuscripts, which Rossetti was viewing in the British Museum and elsewhere. The rapt, embracing couple are typical of Rossetti's work at this time, their union blessed by the sweep of the angel's wing. The watercolour derived from an earlier design for the frontispiece of Rossetti's Early Italian Poets, a collection of his translations.

Gallery label, August 2004

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