Paolo and Francesca da Rimini
This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (December 2021) |
Paolo and Francesca da Rimini | |
---|---|
Artist | Dante Gabriel Rossetti |
Year | 1855 |
Type | watercolour triptych |
Dimensions | 25.4 cm × 44.9 cm (10.0 in × 17.7 in) |
Location | Tate Britain, London |
Paolo and Francesca da Rimini is a
History
Rossetti's real name was Charles Gabriel Dante Rossetti, but his admiration for the great Florentine poet led him to change it to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and he proceeded to sign all his work so. In the specific, the very subject of this painting is taken from
The Triptych and the inspiring Canto
Francesca was the sister-in-law of Paolo Malatesta, and both were married, but they fell in love. Their tragic adulterous story was told by Dante in his Divine Comedy, Canto V of the Inferno, and was a popular subject with Victorian artists and sculptors, especially with followers of the Pre-Raphaelite ideology, and with other writers.
The triptych has several inscriptions taken from Canto V, with Rossetti bringing the story to life by writing relevant quotations in the original Italian around the edge of the composition.
One day we read, to pass the time away,
of Lancelot, of how he fell in love; alone we were, and no suspicion near us ... then he, who never from me shall separate,
at once my lips all trembling kissed.
— Divine Comedy, Canto V, vv.127–136 (free transl.)
The central panel depicts two of Rossetti's literary heroes crowned with laurel: the Roman poet Virgil and the much-revered Dante himself – they regard with concern the two lovers on the right, who appear to float like wraiths in each other's arms, amid the flames of hell. Their adulterous relationship uncovered, they were murdered by Francesca's husband and Paolo's brother, Giovanni Malatesta, and banished to the second circle of hell.
In the final panel of the triptych, the lovers are being blown about violently with the wind, as described by Dante's verses:
The infernal storm, eternal in its rage, sweeps and drives the spirits with its blast.
— Divine Comedy, Canto V, vv.31–32
See also
- List of paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
- The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
- Rossetti and His Circle by Max Beerbohm
References
- ^ The subject was commissioned by Ellen Heaton, but John Ruskin, who had requested five watercolours from Rossetti, bought it for 35 guineas and offered it, along with another picture, to Miss Heaton. He described the picture to her in a letter as 'a most gloomy drawing – very grand – but dreadful – of Dante seeing the soul of Francesca and her lover!' Not surprisingly, Heaton was dissuaded from buying the picture, which Ruskin kept for himself. Cf. V. Surtees, The Paintings & Drawings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882): A Catalogue Raisonné, vol.1, Oxford 1971, p.37. See also the Tate's ref.[1]
- ^ The top of central panel has the inscription O lasso! ("Alas!"). At bottom left, another continues the same verse, quanti dolci pensier, quanto disio... ("how many sweet thoughts, how great desire"), Inferno, Canto V, vv.112–113.
Further reading
- Ash, Russell. (1995) Dante Gabriel Rossetti. London: Pavilion Books.
- Doughty, Oswald (1949) A Victorian Romantic: Dante Gabriel Rossetti London: Frederick Muller
- Fredeman, William E. (Ed.) (2002–08) The correspondence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. 7 Vols. Brewer, Cambridge.
- Hilto, Timoth (1970). The Pre-Raphelites. London: Thames and Hudson, New York: Abrams.
- Hollander, Robert and Jean (2000). The Inferno. Anchor Books.
- Dinah Roe: The Rossettis in Wonderland. A Victorian Family History. Haus Publishing, London 2011.
- Rossetti, D. G. The House Of Life
- Singleton, Charles S. (1970). The Divine Comedy, Inferno/Commentary. Princeton University Press.
- Surtees, Virginia. (1971) Dante Gabriel Rossetti. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Treuherz, Julian, Prettejohn, Elizabeth, and Becker, Edwin (2003). Dante Gabriel Rossetti. London: Thames & Hudson.
- Todd, Pamela (2001). Pre-Raphaelites at Home, New York: Watson-Giptill Publications.
External links
- Paolo and Francesca at Tate Britain
- The Rossetti Archive
- Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery's Pre-Raphaelite Online Resource
- World of Dante Multimedia website that includes gallery of images of the Paolo and Francesca episode.
- Official website of Tate Britain