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The Raven
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, born 1828 - died 1882 - Enlarge image
The Raven
- Object:
Drawing
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (made)
- Date:
ca. 1848 (drawn)
- Artist/Maker:
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, born 1828 - died 1882 (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Pen and ink on paper
- Credit Line:
Given by Mrs Felix Moeller
- Museum number:
E.3415-1922
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E, case I, shelf 132, box O
This is a literal illustration of verses 12-14 of the poem 'The Raven', a tale of the supernatural by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1845.
The raven perches on a bust of Pallas Athene above the door. Ghostly figures of angels--the seraphim of the Bible--are swinging unseen censers to perfume the air. (The presence of an unexplained perfume was often taken as evidence that a ghost or spectre was present). The narrator is seated in the foreground, and a portrait of his lost lover Lenore is faintly visible on the far wall. Rossetti was always interested in the subject of lovers separated by death, and painted versions of many such stories from a range of literary sources, both contemporary and historic.
