“She had three lilies in her hand, and the stars in her hair were seven.”
--Dante Gabriel Rossetti
The Blessed Damozel Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1875-1879 The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool |
And, such is the case with this beautiful, yet somewhat sad, painting by Rossetti from 1875. He’s based the painting on a poem that he wrote about a beautiful young maiden who died prematurely and went to heaven. But, heaven wasn’t so great for her. You see, she pined for her earthly lover and leaned on the gold railing of heaven, all day, every day, to watch him and wait for him to die and join her.
Ever the clever chap, Rossetti has styled this painting like a Renaissance altarpiece, giving it a monumental and regal quality that only makes it seem that much more important, and that much sadder.
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