DG Rossetti: A Brief Biography
In 1850, Rossetti met and fell in love with Elizabeth Siddal, an ironmonger’s daughter. WH Deverell who had apparently ‘discovered’ her working in a milliner’s shop introduced him to her. Although not overly pretty, she would often model for the Brotherhood, most famously for Millais’s ‘Ophelia.’ However, after becoming engaged to Rossetti in 1862, she sat solely for him, and would eventually become the muse for a string of works, by Rossetti, based on Dante and Beatrice. She is represented in Rossetti’s ‘Beatrice Meeting Dante at a Marriage Feast, Denies him her Salutation’, and ‘Dante Painting a Portrait of Beatrice’, and most notably, ‘Beata Beatrix.’ Sadly, however, ‘Lizzie’ Siddal’s health quickly began to deteriorate. In May 1861, she gave birth to a stillborn child and, to complicate matters further, she was by this time addicted to sedatives. On 11 February, she committed suicide.
It was during the 1860s that Rossetti’s personality began to change dramatically. He became hypochondriacal, which one of his friends attributed to Rossetti’s love for Jane Morris, the wife of his long-time friend, William Morris. Jane and Rossetti soon began an affair, which would last until Rossetti’s death. In a rather grotesque attempt to hide their affair, Rossetti disinterred Siddal’s body, in order to reclaim a volume of unpublished poetry which had been buried with her. It has been thought that Rossetti wished to publish the poetry, publicly dedicating it to Elizabeth but privately presenting it to Jane Morris, thus simultaneously creating a smoke screen for their love for each other.
In 1870, Rossetti was living at the Morris’s home at Kelmscott Manor, in Gloucestershire. William had found the affair between his wife and his friend becoming increasingly embarrassing and let Rossetti Kelmscott. Disgruntled, Morris then promptly left for Iceland. Jane and Rossetti spent a tranquil summer at Kelmscott, in 1871. This would sadly be the last peaceful time in Rossetti’s life, however.
After an attack on a volume of Rossetti’s poems by the critic, Robert Buchanan, Rossetti attempted suicide on 8 June 1872. He survived, only to attempt it again two days later. He again survived and was taken to Scotland to recover. He returned to Kelmscott in September, where Jane Morris doted on him. However, their affair was now beginning to cool and in December, Jane moved to London. Rossetti remained at Kelmscott until the summer of 1874. For the remainder of his life, Rossetti was depressed, and was
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