The work of British Pre-Raphaelite founder Dante Gabriel Rossetti, his wife, artist Elizabeth Siddal, and his siblings, writers Christina and William Michael Rossetti are the subject of “The Rosettis” - a major international exhibition organized in partnership with Tate Britain.
The exhibition includes works from the Tate Britain Museum, which added literary materials along with recognized pre-Raphaelite artworks from the subjects.
Sophie Lynford curates the Delaware Art Museum’s pre-Raphaelite collection.
"Ink drawings, pencil drawings, 19th-century photographs - these are albumen prints - and ambrotype," Lynford said. "We’re seeing a tremendous amount of rare books and manuscripts - actual drafts of poems that Christine Rossetti and Gabriel Rossetti wrote."
The show includes Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s early and late paintings, watercolors, photographs, and design, as well as drawings by Elizabeth Siddal.
Lynford says Delaware is an international destination for pre-Raphaelite fans.
"The Delaware Art Museum is fortunate to have the largest collection of pre-Raphaelite art outside of the United Kingdom," Lynford said. "This is a tremendous asset to our state and people come from all over the world to see the treasures of the pre-Raphaelite collection here in Delaware.”
Lynford credits a University of Delaware source for much of the material.
“A lot of this very rare archival material comes from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection at the University of Delaware Library, and that collection is a tremendous resource in Delaware for the study of Victorian art and literature.”
The Rossettis runs through January 28th at the Delaware Art Museum.
Delaware Public Media' s arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
