Portrait of Dante Gabriel Rossetti at 22 Years of Age, by William Holman Hunt (1827-1910). Oil on panel. 1882-83. H 29.2 x W 21.5 cm. Accession no. 1961P33, purchased from Mrs M. Burt with the assistance of the Wiggins-Davies Bequest to commemorate the service of Alderman W. Byng Kenrick to the City of Birmingham, 1961. Downloaded via Art UK. Right: The portrait in its frame, shown on the museum's own site. Both images are credited to the Birmingham Museums Trust, and identified as being in the public domain.
The oil portrait was actually painted after Rossetti's death, based on a Hunt's own chalk drawing of his friend as a young man in 1853, a work that the museum's caption tells us was of the same size. Shown on the right is a photogravure of the oil painting by the Swan Electric Engraving Co. (Source: Pre-Raphaelitism, I: facing p. 317.) The most notable feature in the portrait is the sitter's intent and direct gaze, common in self-portraits of artists, for obvious reasons, but less so when the artist is just the sitter.
The photogravure image too may be used without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose. — George P. Landow and Jacqueline Banerjee
Bibliography
1961P33 Portrait of Dante Gabriel Rossetti at 22 years of Age. Birmingham Museums. Web. 4 January 2025.
Hunt, William Holman. Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1905.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Art UK. Web. 4 January 2025.
(1828–1882).Created 20 January 2022
Last modified 4 January 2025