William Michael Rossetti (1829-1919) by Lamplight
Ford Madox Brown (Calais 1821 - London 1893)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
8 Oct 1856 (signed and dated) - 1857
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
171 x 165 mm (6 3/4 x 6 1/2 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Wightwick Manor, West Midlands
NT 1288936
Caption
Brown painted this portrait on the evening of 8 October 1856 and gave it to William's mother Frances Mary Lavinia. The sitter was the brother of stormy siblings, the artist Dante Gabriel, and the poet Christina Rossetti, whose work he edited. He was a man of letters and art critic, who spent his life employed by the Inland Revenue. He was also one of the original seven members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and was editor of their journal, ‘The Germ.’ He married the artist's daughter, Lucy, in 1874.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, William Michael Rossetti (1829-1919) by Lamplight by Ford Madox Brown (Calais 1821 – London 1893), inscribed, top right in red: 'To FMLR 1856 FMB (initials in monogram). A head-and-shoulders portrait of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's younger brother, against background of grey starred wallpaper by lamplight. 'FMLR' suggests it was a gift to the sitter's mother Frances Mary Lavinia Rossetti, who taught the artist's daughter, Lucy, who later married William Michael in 1874 and the portrait belonged to their daughter Helen Rossetti Angeli.
Provenance
A gift to the sitter's mother, Frances Mary Lavinia Polidori Mrs Gabriele Rossetti (1801 - 1866) ('FMLR') (mother of William and Dante Gabriel) in 1857; by descent to her grand-daughter, William Michael Rossetti and Lucy Madox Brown's daughter, Helen Maria Rossetti, Mrs Gastone Angeli (1879 - 1969); bought by the National Trust in 1948
Marks and inscriptions
To WMR 1856 FMB.(hand-written label giving title and notes painted in artificial light)
Makers and roles
Ford Madox Brown (Calais 1821 - London 1893), artist
Exhibition history
Ford Madox Brown: Pre-Raphaelite Pioneer , Manchester Art Gallery, 2011 - 2012 The Pre-Raphaelites, Tate Britain, London, 1984, no.81