"The Blessed Damozel" is perhaps the best known poem by
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...
, as well as the title of his painting (and its replica) illustrating the subject. The poem was first published in 1850 in the
Pre-Raphaelite
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...
journal ''
The Germ''. Rossetti subsequently revised the poem twice and republished it in 1856, 1870 and 1873.
Poem
The poem was partially inspired by
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
's poem "
The Raven
"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a myste ...
", with its depiction of a lover grieving on Earth over the death of his loved one. Rossetti chose to represent the situation in reverse. The poem describes the
damozel observing her lover from heaven, and her unfulfilled yearning for their reunion in heaven. The first four stanzas of the poem are inscribed on the frame of the painting:
Paintings
![The Blessed Damozel DGRs replica](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/The_Blessed_Damozel_DGRs_replica.jpg)
''The Blessed Damozel'' is the only one of Rossetti's paired pictures and poems in which the poem was completed first. Friends and patrons repeatedly urged Rossetti to illustrate his most famous poem,
[Treuherz et al. (2003), p. 100] and he finally accepted a commission from William Graham in February 1871. After the work was completed Graham requested a
predella
In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...
, the lower part of the painting, on December 31, 1877. His total cost was £1157.
Alexa Wilding
Alexa Wilding (born Alice Wilding, c. 1847 – 25 April 1884) was one of the favourite models of the Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, featuring in some of his finest paintings of the later 1860s and 1870s. She sat for more of h ...
modelled the damozel in Paradise, Wilfred John Hawtrey modelled the child–angel, and the probable model for the left–hand angel was
May Morris
Mary "May" Morris (25 March 1862 – 17 October 1938) was an English artisan, embroidery designer, jeweller, socialist, and editor. She was the younger daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer William Morris and his wife and artists' m ...
.
File:FRLeylandsdrawingroom1892.jpg, 320px, Six Rossetti paintings as hung in Leyland's drawing room, 1892. ''The Blessed Damozel'' hangs third from the left.[ (Click on any painting for its article.)
poly 80 200 25 200 25 280 80 280 ]Monna Rosa
''Monna Rosa'' is the title of two oil paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, both portraits of Frances Leyland, the wife of shipping magnate Frederick Richards Leyland, a regular patron of Rossetti. The earlier and smaller painting was completed ...
poly 200 190 240 190 240 280 200 280 Mnemosyne (Rossetti)
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''Mnemosyne'', also titled ''Lamp of Memory'' and ''Ricordanza'', is an oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti begun in 1875 or early 1876 and completed in 1881. Jane Morris was the model, and Frederick Richards Leyland bought the pai ...
poly 250 190 290 190 290 280 250 280
poly 300 210 330 210 330 280 300 280 Proserpine (Rossetti painting)
''Proserpine'' (also ''Proserpina'') is an oil painting on canvas by English artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, painted in 1874 and now in Tate Britain. Rossetti began work on the painting in 1871 and painted at least eight separate versio ...
poly 352 215 400 215 400 280 352 280 Veronica Veronese
''Veronica Veronese'' is an oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti painted in 1872 with Alexa Wilding as the model. The painting was conceived as a companion to ''Lady Lilith.'' Rossetti sold the painting to one of his best clients, shipping mag ...
poly 530 220 570 220 570 280 530 280 Lady Lilith
''Lady Lilith'' is an oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti first painted in 1866–1868 using his mistress Fanny Cornforth as the model, then altered in 1872–73 to show the face of Alexa Wilding. The subject is Lilith, who was, according to ...
desc none
Another, later version is in the
Lady Lever Art Gallery
The Lady Lever Art Gallery is a museum founded and built by the industrialist and philanthropist William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme and opened in 1922. The Lady Lever Art Gallery is set in the garden village of Port Sunlight, on the Wirral ...
.
Frederick Richards Leyland
Frederick Richards Leyland (30 September 1831 – 4 January 1892) was one of the largest British shipowners, running 25 steamships in the transatlantic trade. He was also a major art collector, who commissioned works from several of the Pre-Rap ...
commissioned eighteen paintings from Rossetti, not counting unfulfilled commissions. Soon after Leyland acquired his first Rossetti painting, he and Rossetti explored the idea of a Rossetti
triptych
A triptych ( ; from the Greek language, Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) t ...
, which was eventually formed with ''
Mnemosyne
In Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion, Mnemosyne (; grc, Μνημοσύνη, ) is the goddess of memory and the mother of the nine Muses by her nephew Zeus. In the Greek tradition, Mnemosyne is one of the Titans, the twelve divine chil ...
'', an 1879 replica of ''The Blessed Damozel'' painted by Rossetti himself, and ''Proserpine''.
[''Waking Dreams'', p. 204.] Three additional Rossetti paintings were then hung in Leyland's drawing room, all of which Leyland called "stunners."
[''Waking Dreams'', p. 26 (figure 5).]
Music
Several pieces of music were based on the poem, including those for orchestra by
Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
,
Granville Bantock
Sir Granville Ransome Bantock (7 August 186816 October 1946) was a British composer of classical music.
Biography
Granville Ransome Bantock was born in London. His father was an eminent Scottish surgeon.Hadden, J. Cuthbert, 1913, ''Modern Music ...
(1891),
Edgar Bainton
Edgar Leslie Bainton (14 February 18808 December 1956) was a British-born, latterly Australian-resident composer. He is remembered today mainly for his liturgical anthem ''And I saw a new heaven'', a popular work in the repertoire of Anglican ch ...
(1907),
Ernest Farrar
Ernest Bristow Farrar (7 July 1885 – 18 September 1918) was an English composer, pianist and organist.
Life
Ernest Farrar was born in Lewisham, London, but moved in 1887 to Micklefield in Yorkshire, where his father was a clergyman. The rest ...
(1907); for piano by
Arnold Bax
Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral musi ...
(1906); for string quartet by
Benjamin Burrows
Dr Benjamin Burrows (20 October 1891 – 28 January 1966 in Leicester, England) was an English organist, pianist, music teacher, inventor, composer of art songs and instrumental music.Unknown author, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'' online ...
(1927); and a 1928 choral by
Julius Harrison
Julius Allan Greenway Harrison (26 March 1885 – 5 April 1963) was an English composer and conductor who was particularly known for his interpretation of operatic works. Born in Lower Mitton, Stourport in Worcestershire, by the age of 16 ...
.
The poem was the inspiration for
Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
's ''
La Damoiselle élue
''La Damoiselle élue'' (''The Blessed Damozel''), List of compositions by Claude Debussy by Lesure number, L. 62, is a cantata for soprano soloist, 2-part children's choir, 2-part female (contralto) choir (with contralto solo), and orchestra, com ...
'' (1888), a cantata for two soloists, female choir, and orchestra.
A 2007 popular song of the same name by
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...
appears on their album ''
Madcap's Flaming Duty
''Madcap's Flaming Duty'' is the ninety-eighth release and twenty-seventh major studio album by Tangerine Dream. Along with ''Cyclone'' (1978) and '' Tyger'' (1987) it is one of the few Tangerine Dream releases to feature vocals. The album is a t ...
''.
See also
*
List of paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
This is a list of paintings by the British Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, paint ...
*
Elsie Whitaker Martinez
Elsie Whitaker Martinez (1 March 1890 – 31 January 1984) was renowned for her beauty in youth and old age, a muse of many famed writers and artists and an associate of most people in Northern California's Bohemian community of 1906 into the 1 ...
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Blessed Damozel
Victorian poetry
Collections of the Lady Lever Art Gallery
Paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Paintings in the Harvard Art Museums
Angels in art
Adaptations of works by Edgar Allan Poe
Paintings based on literature