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The Blessed Damozel

Drawing
1875 (made)
Artist/Maker
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel (maker)
Place of origin
Great Britain (made)

The 'Blessed Damozel' was originally a poem by Rossetti about the yearning of a loved one in heaven. It was written in 1848 and first published in 1850 in the Pre-Raphaelite magazine The Germ, although frequently revised thereafter. In 1871 Rossetti was commissioned to create a visual version of the poem. This is the second of two sketches for the painting, which is in a private collection. The model was Alexa Wilding. She is clad like an angel in white but her appearance is nonetheless corporeal and sensuous. It is an excellent example of Rossetti's skill in handling chalks.


Object details

Categories
Access_to_Images 2003
Drawings
SCRAN
Object type
Drawing
TitleThe Blessed Damozel (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Black and red chalk on pale green paper
Chalk
Paper
Pastel
Brief description
Study in red chalk for The Blessed Damozel, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Great Britain, 1875.
Physical description
Study in red chalk for The Blessed Damozel, depicting a portrait of a woman, quarter-length at a table, holding a writing quill. The head and face are executed in detail but the body, table and quill are roughly sketched.
Dimensions
  • Height: 78.7cm
  • Width: 71.1cm
  • Framed height: 107cm
  • Framed width: 94.1cm
  • Framed depth: 4cm
Dimensions taken from Fagence Cooper, Suzanne. Pre Raphaelite Art in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, V&A Publications, 2003. 176p., ill. ISBN I 85177 393 2.
Credit line
Bequeathed by R. J. Dyson
Object history
Note: This drawing is reproduced facing p. 190 in H. C. Marillier's Dante Gabriel Rossetti, London, 1899. It is the second of two studies, both in red chalk, which were made for the picture and was No. 96 in the sale of William Graham's pictures at Christie's, April 1886.
Subject depicted
Wilding, Alexa
Literary referenceRossetti, Dante Gabriel <font -u>The Blessed Damozel</font>
Summary
The 'Blessed Damozel' was originally a poem by Rossetti about the yearning of a loved one in heaven. It was written in 1848 and first published in 1850 in the Pre-Raphaelite magazine The Germ, although frequently revised thereafter. In 1871 Rossetti was commissioned to create a visual version of the poem. This is the second of two sketches for the painting, which is in a private collection. The model was Alexa Wilding. She is clad like an angel in white but her appearance is nonetheless corporeal and sensuous. It is an excellent example of Rossetti's skill in handling chalks.
Bibliographic references
  • Fagence Cooper, Suzanne, Pre Raphaelite Art in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, V&A Publications, 2003. 176p., ill. ISBN I 85177 393 2
  • Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Engraving Illustration and Design & Department of Paintings, Accessions 1946. London: Published under the Authority of the Ministry of Education, 1949.
  • Debussy. La Musique et les Arts Paris: musee de l'Orangerie, 2012. ISBN: 978-2-0812-7972-8.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.262-1946

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Record createdJanuary 8, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O88822/the-blessed-damozel-drawing-rossetti-dante-gabriel/
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