Flaming passion and painting: Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s eroticism in making art
Flaming passion and painting: Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s eroticism in making art

Summary/Abstract: One of the founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882), was established as a highly-esteemed artist not only for his works of art, but also for his fascinating poems, which teemed with eroticism and intense attraction to the female sex. The female figure dominated Rossetti’s painting from the beginning of his career, despite being portrayed as almost frantically stylised. Young and attractive female models that sparked his intimate fantasies were depicted in an innocently erotic and challenging way in his 1850s, 1860s and 1870s works, which were considered the epitome of symbolism, eroticism and sensuality. This article aims to outline in a detailed and ‘embossed’ way the erotic side of the multi-faceted personality of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The way eroticism influenced the formation of his works thematically based on the female figure, will be primarily examined so as the hidden gems of his formidable way of thinking, feeling, acting and creating be decoded.

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