Veronica Veronese Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1 © Delaware Art Museum, Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial Veronica Veronese DGR 1872 January-March RA 1883 (no.295); Wilmington 1934; Wilmington 1976; Yale (New Haven), 1976 F. R. Leyland 1872 £840 Bancroft Collection, Wilmington Society of Fine Arts, Delaware oil on canvas 43 x 35 in. DGR 1872 Signed and dated in the lower right. Angeli, DGR con 107 illustrazioni , 123. Marillier, DGR: An Illustrated Memorial, facing page 168. Phythian, The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, 48 Gowans and Gray, Masterpieces of DGR , page 48. Radford, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 41. Elzea, Bancroft and Related Collections, 121. Toohey, Bancroft Collection, 21. Surtees, <hi rend="i">A Catalogue Raisonné</hi> , vol. 2, plate 325. See the description by Stephens, originally written for his essay on DGR in the 1883 Athenaeum ; also the description by Marillier. Alexa Wilding <artist/> <bibl/> <note/> </citnpictorial> <citnmythic> <name/> <culture/> <bibl/> <note/> </citnmythic> <citnhistorical> <event/> <place/> <date/> <bibl/> <note/> </citnhistorical> <citnautobiographical> <name/> <place/> <date/> <bibl/> <note/> </citnautobiographical> <citnscenic> <place/> <date/> <bibl/> <note/> </citnscenic> </listcitn> </source> <commentaries> <head>Commentary</head> <section type="intro"> <head>Introduction</head> <p>The painting is one of the most important among the many Venetian-inspired pictures that dominate DGR's artistic output during the 1860s and 1870s. Elaborately decorative, it is an excellent example of the abstract way DGR handles ostensibly figurative subject matter. As its various commentators have noticed, the picture represents “<quote>the artistic soul in the act of creation</quote>” (Ainsworth 97). It is a visionary <hi rend="i">portrait</hi> of that soul as it had been incarnated in the practise of Paolo Veronese.</p> </section> <section type="prodhist"> <head>Production History</head> <p>Begun in January 1872 without any explicit commission, the painting was bought by Frederick Leyland as soon as DGR told him about it, and described his intentions for the work. DGR completed it in March of the same year and sent it to Leyland at that time.</p> </section> <section type="recepthist"> <head>Reception</head> <p/> </section> <section type="icon"> <head>Iconograpic</head> <p>The <xref doc="a.3p-1872.raw">French quotation on the picture frame</xref>, supposedly from <hi rend="i">The Letters of Girolamo Ridolfi</hi>, was actually written by DGR or possibly Swinburne. It constitutes a kind of explanation of some of the picture's most important iconographical features: “<quote>Suddenly leaning forward, the Lady Veronica rapidly wrote the first notes on the virgin page. Then she took the bow of her violin to make her dream reality; but before commencing to play the instrument hanging from her hand, she remained quiet a few moments, listening to the inspiring bird, while her left hand strayed over the strings searching for the supreme melody, still elusive. It was the marriage of the voices of nature and the soul—the dawn of a mystic creation</quote>” (this is <xref doc="a.ac-delaware1978.rad" link="dead" from="120">Rowland Elzea's translation</xref> of the French text on the picture frame). The “marriage” noted here is emblematically represented in the figure of the uncaged bird, which stands simultaneously as a figure of nature and of the soul.</p> <p>Sarah Phelps Smith has explicated the picture's flower symbolism: the bird cage is decorated with camomile, or “<quote>energy in adversity</quote>”; the primroses symbolize youth and the daffodils (narcissi) stand for reflection or meditation. But David Nolta argues that the camomile is in fact celandine, which in herbal lore was a notable specific for diseases of the eyes. (Nolta's autobiographical reading of the picture is greatly strengthened by this view of the flower symbolism.)</p> </section> <section type="pictorial"> <head>Pictorial</head> <p>The green velvet dress in the picture was borrowed from Jane Morris, the background drapery is a Renaissance brocade, the jewelry is Indian silver, the violin is from DGR's collection of musical instruments. The fan hanging at her side is the same as that which appears extended in <xref doc="a.s191.rap"> <title level="pic"> <hi rend="i">Monna Vanna</hi> . The musical manuscript showing the first bars of a composition seems in debt to George Boyce, to whom DGR wrote in March 1872 asking if he “had any old written music & could you lend me such” (quoted in Surtees, <hi rend="i">A Catalogue Raisonné</hi> I. 128).

Historical

Literary

The french inscription attributed to Girolamo Ridolfi is almost certainly the work of Swinburne.

Autobiographical

David Nolta (see bibliography) gives a very persuasive autobiographical reading of the picture

Bibliographic

Ainsworth, <hi rend="i">Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the Double Work of Art</hi> , 97-98. Angeli, DGR con 107 illustrazioni , 123. Elzea, <hi rend="i">Bancroft and Related Collections</hi> , 120-121. Fennell, <hi rend="i">Rossetti-Leyland Letters</hi> , 28-29, 33, 71. Gowans and Grey, <hi rend="i">Masterpieces of Rossetti.</hi> , 48. Marillier, <hi rend="i">DGR: An Illustrated Memorial</hi> , 170-171. Nolta, “<hi rend="i">Veronica Veronese</hi> ”, 18-24. Phythian, <hi rend="i">Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood</hi> , 38. Powell, “Object, Symbol, and Metaphor”, 16-29. Radford, <hi rend="i">Dante Gabriel Rossetti</hi> , 41. WMR, <hi rend="i">DGR as Designer and Writer</hi> , 68-69. Sharp, <hi rend="i">DGR: A Record and a Study</hi> , 227-228. Smith, “From Allegory to Symbol”, 50-65. Stephens, <hi rend="i">Dante Gabriel Rossetti</hi> , 82-83. Surtees, <hi rend="i">A Catalogue Raisonné</hi> , vol. 1, 128. Surtees, <hi rend="i">A Catalogue Raisonné</hi> , vol.2 (plate 325). Toohey, <hi rend="i">Bancroft Collection</hi> , 21.

Se penchant vivement, la Veronica jeta les premières notes sur la feuille vierge. Ensuite elle prit l'archet du violon pour réaliser son rêve; mais avant de décrocher l'instrument suspendu, elle resta quelques instants immobile en écoutant l'oiseau inspirateur, pendant que sa main gauche errait sur les cordes cherchant le motif suprême encore eloigné. C'était le mariage des voix de la nature et de l'âme—l'aube d'une création mystique.

Lettres de Girolamo Ridolfi

This passage is inscribed upon the frame.