Beata Beatrix

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Both a poet and a painter, Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a circle of Victorian artists united in their appreciation of medieval aesthetics and the “primitive” style of pre-Renaissance art. Rossetti found inspiration for Beata Beatrix in La vita nuova (The New Life) , written by his namesake, the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, in 1295. Rossetti’s scene draws a parallel between Dante’s love for the late Beatrice and his own aff ection for his recently deceased wife and muse, Elizabeth Siddal. While the picture is a tribute to Siddal, Rossetti was adamant that it does not represent her death; rather, the work portrays her as if in a trance or other spiritual state. The work’s symbolism similarly combines details from Rossetti’s personal life with those from La vita nuova . “The Dove” was the artist’s nickname for Siddal, and a haloed dove delivers her a white poppy, a symbol of the laudanum—a derivative of opium—that caused her death by overdose. Above her head rises the Ponte Vecchio, the Florentine bridge that served as the setting for Dante’s poem. To the upper left is the personifi cation of Love and to the right the fi gure of Dante, who dou

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