Saturday, May 16, 2009

Dante Gabriel Rossetti - The Tune of Seven Towers


1857
Watercolour
Tate Gallery
Another watercolour purchased by William Morris that also inspired a poem of his.
The model was Lizzie Siddal sitting in a tall chair playing an instrument. It is full of the symbolism that Rossetti loved, the orange branch placed on the bed - symbolizing marriage. It may reflect his own feelings at the time. He was finally considering marriage to Lizzie but was worried about her health (indicated by the Dove) and the scallop shell round her neck is a symbol of pilgramage, her search for a cure.

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