The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Portrait of William Michael Rossetti

Portrait of William Michael Rossetti

c. 1853
(British, 1830–1894)
Sheet: 17.9 x 12.8 cm (7 1/16 x 5 1/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Christina and William Rossetti shared a strong emotional bond. Employed as a civil servant, William provided financial stability that allowed Christina to pursue poetry.

Description

The youngest of four children in the artistic Rossetti family, Christina Rossetti lived on the periphery of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, occasionally modeling for her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and submitting her poetry to the brotherhood’s journal, The Germ. Before achieving acclaim as a poet with works such as Goblin Market and Monna Innominata, she briefly considered pursuing a career as an artist. This portrait of her brother William is one of her few surviving drawings. In the spare profile, the figure’s eyes are downcast, as though reading or in private reverie, perhaps in reference to William’s work as a man of letters.
  • William Michael Rossetti, by descent
    2010
    (sale, Christie's, London, December 15, 2010, no. 13, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
    2010-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. pp. 98-99, 148, no. 33; Reproduced: p. 99
  • British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of William Michael Rossetti|url=false|author=Christina Georgina Rossetti|year=c. 1853|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2010.462