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: I love to tell my students about Siddal when I discuss Rossetti. One of my Proff's. in college : said that she did commit suicide and part of this : was because she had difficulties leading a life : among the decadent Pre-Raphialites. He also said : that she was "discovered" by Rosetti because of : her beauty and that being from a lower cl, she : never fit into the Pre-Raphelite clan. The other : famous woman, the dark haired lady with the pouty : lips, what is her name? She was married to a famous Victorian writer, William?,supposedly : had an affair with Rossetti. She is in many of his paintings and has such a haunting look. I would love to read a biography at some point and : get the facts. Let me know if you find one. : E. : : : I spent a spare few minutes browsing the web and reading about the pre-raphaelites, and came across someone I'd never heard of called Elizabeth Siddal. I thought I'd set the tone for our new board with a few snippets about her life. (Also an unashamed excuse to look at some of my favourite pre-raphaelite paintings). : : - she was one of the principal models for the pre-raphaelites especially Rossetti, Millais and Hunt : : - she was the model for Millais's Ophelia : : (http://www.artmagick.com/artists/millais2.asp). : : Apparently for the sitting Siddal lay in a bath in Millais's studio. The water was kept warm by a lamp underneath the bath. Millais unfortunately : : forgot all about her and went out. The lamp itself went out. Siddal however stayed in the bath, getting icier and icier and eventually caught pneumonia! Siddal's father sued Millais who ended up paying £50 compensation! (The incident was recounted by Arthur Hughes who shared the studio with Millais. He painted that lovely painting "April Love" (the first painting that William Morris ever bought): : : http://artmagick.com/paintings/painting1914.asp : : - Siddal eventually married Dante Gabriel Rossetti. : : However their child was still-born and she died of a laudanum overdose shortly afterwards. No one really knows if it was an accident or suicide. : : - There was then the well known incident where : : Rossetti buried some of his poems with her, but then had to have the grave opened 7 years later to retrieve them. Apparently, "literary London buzzed with the rumor (based on a persistent non-fact of biology) that her hair had continued to grow after her death, to grow so long, so beautiful, so luxuriantly as to fill the coffin with its gold!" (quotation taken from a very interesting article about her at : : http://vp.engl.wvu.edu/winter97/hett.htm : : There are also examples of her poetry. : : - Siddal was also an accomplished painter. She illustrated Tennyson's poem St Agnes' Eve: : : (last verse) : : He lifts me to the golden doors; : : The flashes come and go; : : All heaven bursts her starry floors, : : And strows her lights below, : : And deepens on and up! the gates : : Roll back, and far within : : For me the Heavenly Bridegroom waits, : : To make me pure of sin. : : The sabbaths of Eternity, : : One sabbath deep and wide-- : : A light upon the shining sea-- : : The Bridegroom with his bride! : : The painting can be seen at : : http://www.artmagick.com/artists/siddal1.asp : : - Another well known painting featuring her is Holman Hunt's "A Converted Christian Family Sheltering a Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids": : : http://artmagick.com/paintings/hunt/hunt1.jpg : : Siddal is the woman tending to the priest. : : - Siddal's hair was the model for Holman Hunt's "The light of the world"!: : : http://artmagick.com/paintings/hunt/hunt3.jpg : : -Siddal, who was often ill, stayed with Ruskin's parents for a while, trying Mrs Ruskin's home-made medicines (presumeably before she dumped Ruskin for Millais). Dr Henry Acland (Ruskin's close friend) also tried to help Siddal. Acland was the family doctor to the Liddell family (Alice in Wonderland) and Siddal met Lewis Carrol several times. : : - There's an interesting cartoon by Max Beerbohm at : : http://www.thecore.nus.edu.sg/landow/victorian/decadence/mb/dgrcircle7.html : : The painting on the wall features Elizabeth Siddal.

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