Bruna Brunelleschi

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

General Description

Date: 1878
Model: Jane Burden Morris

Bibliography

◦ Marillier, An Illustrated Memorial, 194.

◦ Surtees, A Catalogue Raisonné, vol. 1, 148.

Scholarly Commentary

Introduction

This work closely resembles the 1868 oil portrait of Jane Burden Morris. DGR returned years later to complete this watercolour, which he had probably begun as a study for the earlier portrait. He wrote to Jane that he had thought to name the work Vittoria Colonna, but decided against inviting comparison with Michelangelo. Instead, DGR decided on the title Bruna Brunelleschi, not wishing Jane's name to be so directly associated with the work, and in reference to her dark complexion (see Surtees, A Catalogue Raisonné, vol. 1, 148).

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