Illustration to 'The Tales of Sorrentino' by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

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Illustration to 'The Tales of Sorrentino'

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

c. 1843

Pen and brown ink on white paper, partly signed (Ross)'etti'

1/4 x 5 1/4 inches, 18.5 x 13.4 cm.

Provenance: Charles Fairfax Murray, thence to his son Arthur R. Murray; Sotheby's sale 15th February 1961, part of lot 6; Sir Geoffrey Mander; L. S. Lowry RA

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Commentary by Hilary Morgan

There are three versions of this drawing. Of the other two, one is slightly larger and is without the vase and book on the table (Surtees number 10), and the other has background details (illustrated in Marillier, page 214).

This very early drawing is an illustration to the artist's prose romance, The Tales of Sorrentino, the subject of which was the interference of the devil in the course of true love. It can be dated to 1843 as it is mentioned in a letter to his mother. The poem is now missing and is presumed lost following objections about it by Rossetti's sisters.

References

Doughty, O. A Victorian Romantic, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. London: Muller, 1949.

Marillier, H. C. Dante Gabriel Rossetti. London: George Bell and Sons, 1899.

Morgan, Hilary, and Peter Nahum. Burne-Jones, the Pre-Raphaelites, and Their Century. London: Peter Nahum, 1989. Catalogue number 16.

Surtees, Virginia. Dante Gabriel Rossetti. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971. Catalogue no. 183E. I, 107.

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Last modified 23 May 2006