Proserpine (sixth version)

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

1877

Physical Description

Medium: oil
Dimensions: 46 x 22 in.
Signature: Dante Gabriele Rossetti
Date on Image: 1877
Note: Signature and date appear on a scroll in the lower left: “Dante Gabriele Rossetti ritrasse nel capo d'anno del 1877”.

Production Description

Production Date: 1877
Exhibition History: Manchester, Royal Institution, Art Treasures Exhibtion, 1878; Manchester, Royal Institution, 1882, no. 250; B.F.A.C., 1883, no. 86; Manchester, Royal Jubilee, 1887, no. 699; Guildhall, 1895, no. 48; New Gallery, 1897, no. 21; Dublin, Irish International Exhibition, 1907
Model: Jane Burden Morris

Provenance

Current Location: L. S. Lowry, R. A.
Archival History: W.A. Turner; Turner Sale, Christie's April 28, 1888 (no. 116); Charles Butler; by descent to his grandson, Charles Butler; Christie's November 20, 1964 (no. 25)

Scholarly Commentary

Production History

Of the eight known versions of Proserpine, this is the sixth. This painting was begun in October or November of 1873, to replace the previous version, which had been damaged during the lining process. When sent to Frederic Leyland in Liverpool in December of that same year, it too was disfigured during transportation and returned to the artist (Fredeman, Correspondence, 74.4). The head and hands were cut out and patched onto a new canvas, and the rest of the picture repainted. DGR then redated the work to 1877 and sold it to W.A. Turner.

Bibliography

Included Text

  • Lungi è la luce che in sù questo muro
  • Rifrange appena, un breve istante scorta
  • Del rio palazzo alla soprana porta.
  • Lungi quei fiori d'Enna, O lido oscuro,
  • Dal frutto tuo fatal che omai m'è duro.
  • Lungi quel cielo dal tartareo manto
  • Che quì mi cuopre: e lungi ahi lungi ahi quanto
  • Le notti che saràn dai dì che furo.
  • Lungi da me mi sento; e ognor sognando
  • Cerco e ricerco, e resto ascoltatrice; 10
  • E qualche cuore a qualche anima dice,
  • (Di cui mi giunge il suon da quando in quando,
  • Continuamente insieme sospirando,)—
  • “Oimè per te, Proserpina infelice!”
Note: Poem appears in the upper right corner of the painting.

Reproductions

  1. image

    Angeli, DGR con 107 illustrazioni , 27.
  2. image

    Surtees, A Catalogue Raisonné , vol. 2, no. 331.
  3. image

    Marillier, DGR: An Illustrated Memorial , facing page 174.
  4. image

    Masterpieces of Rossetti (Gowans and Gray), 50.
  5. image

    F. G. Stephens, Dante Gabriel Rossetti , 80a.
  6. image

    Delaware Art Museum print.
  7. image

    Delaware Art Museum print.
Electronic Archive Edition: 1
File Name: s233.rap.xml