Dante Gabriel Rossetti: The Daydream, 1880 (detail)

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

The Daydream is the culmination of Rossetti's sense of fantasy and the way in which he wished to elevate and deify women he admired. It is one of the last major oils he executed before his death. The idea for the painting was first mentioned by the artist in 1872, but hints of the composition can be seen in many of his earlier drawings of Jane Morris, the model for this work.

There are also photographs of Jane Morris, posed by Rossetti in 1865, which show his preoccupation with a certain way of portraying his close friend and confidante. The mood of the sitter and the style of the dress that Jane Morris wears is particularly reminiscent of The Daydream. In fact this work perfectly expresses Rossetti's vision of women. For years he was obsessed by a particular type of female beauty, epitomized by his wife and model Elizabeth Siddal, and Jane Morris. The break from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in the early 1850s enabled him to develop a more personal poetic vision and explore themes from Dante and the idea of courtly love.

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HC-918:  card size 6" x 6" (150mm x 150mm)