Commentary
Introduction
The picture initially formed part of a double work with Fazio degli Uberti's
<xref doc="a.236d-1861.raw">
<hi rend="i">Canzone</hi>
</xref>
(“Io miro i crespi e gli biondi
capegli”) translated by DGR and included in his
<xref doc="a.1-1861.rad" workcode="236d-1861">
<hi rend="i">Early Italian Poets</hi>
</xref>
collection. But this conception changed in 1869, when he said that the painting ought
to be renamed Aurelia.
For a much more detailed commentary on the picture and all its relationships see the
documents and glosses for the finished oil, as well as the commentary for DGR's translation of Uberti's poem.
Textual History: Composition
Textual History: Revision
Production History
The finished oil was commisioned by William Backmore sometime
in early or mid-1863, was on DGR's easel in October, and was completed and sent to Blackmore
on 16 November (see letters to Ellen Heaton, 25 October 1863, and to William Blackmore, 16
November,
Fredeman,
<hi rend="i">Correspondence</hi>
, 63.95 and 63.100
). DGR pointed out to Blackmore that the picture's frame was specially designed by DGR.
The picture, which passed to George Rae, was repainted for Rae in 1873, at which point the
original frame was altered and the text from the canzone of Fazio degli Alberti removed (see
letter to Rae, 3 December 1873,
Fredeman,
<hi rend="i">Correspondence</hi>
, 73.352
). Comments vary on the extent of the repainting; in any case, DGR did not, as he
sometimes did with pictures involving Fanny Cornforth, repaint the face.
DGR made a watercolour in 1864 for John Bibby which depicts
the same subject, the woman facing to the right instead of the left. The original design for
the picture, which DGR sent to Blackmore with the painting, has not appeared.
Pictorial
This painting should not be confused with the 1860 watercolour he made for George Boyce
titled Bonifazio's Mistress, which has nothing to do with Fazio
degli Uberti or his famous canzone.
Literary
When DGR suggested the title Aurelia for the picture he was drawing a
relation with Gérard de Nerval's 1855 novella of the same title. Nerval's story is distinctly
Rossettian—full of dreams and doubles—and is itself a conscious
replication of Dante's
<hi rend="i">Vita Nuova</hi>
. Thus, whether associated with Uberti or Nerval, the picture is very close to a double
work, properly so called.
Bibliographic
Fredeman,
<hi rend="i">Correspondence</hi>
, 63.95, 63.100, 73.352.
Marillier,
<hi rend="i">DGR: An Illustrated Memorial</hi>
, 131.
McGann,
<hi rend="i">The Game that Must be Lost</hi>
, 18-21, 128-131.
Sharp,
<hi rend="i">DGR: A Record and a Study</hi>
, 152, 186-187.
Surtees,
<hi rend="i">A Catalogue Raisonné</hi>
, vol. 1, 92-93 (no. 164).
<hi rend="i">The Age of Rossetti, Burne-Jones, and Watts</hi>
, Tate 1997, 98-100.