La Belle Dame Sans Merci
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
1855
Physical Description
Medium: watercolour
Dimensions: 14 3/4 x 6 3/4
Signature: monogram; musical notes “G.D.”
Date on Image: 1855
Note: Monogram and date are inscribed at lower right. The musical notes “G.D.” are inscribed at upper right.
Production Description
Production Date: 1855
Exhibition History: B.F.A.C., 1883 (no.16); Rome 1977 (no.18)
Model: Elizabeth Siddal
Note: Siddal sat for the female figure.
Provenance
Current Location: Lilian Murray
Archival History: John Ruskin; G.P. Boyce; Christie's ale July 1, 1897 (lot 151), £78. 15
s.; Fairfax Murray; Sotheby's sale June 19, 1969 (lot 162, withdrawn from sale); Miss Lilian Murray
Reproductions
-
Surtees, A Catalogue Raisonné , vol. 2, Frontispiece. -
Benedetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 192.
Electronic Archive Edition: 1
File Name:
s76.rap.xml
Scholarly Commentary
Introduction
Surtees notes Fairfax Murray's suggestion that the figures represent Laertes and Ophelia; Murray's suggestion is perhaps derived from the resemblance of these figures and the two principal figures in the First Madness of Ophelia (vol.1, 39).
Bibliography