The Story Behind Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Beata Beatrix (c.1864-70)
Beata Beatrix (Blessed Beatrice) is one of the most evocative works by Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It is more than just a painting; it is a poignant visual elegy to Rossetti’s wife, Elizabeth Siddal, rendered through the lens of medieval allegory and his profound personal grief.
The artwork depicts Elizabeth as Beatrice Portinari, the muse and eternal love of Italian poet Dante Alighieri. Beatrice, immortalized in Dante’s La Vita Nuova (1294), was the poet’s idealized beloved. According to Dante, he first saw Beatrice when he was just nine years old, and though their connection was fleeting and largely unspoken, his love for her became a central force in his life and work.
After her untimely death in 1290 at the age of 24, Beatrice became, for Dante, a symbol of salvation. In his epic masterpiece The Divine Comedy, she appears as his heavenly guide, leading him through Paradise.
For centuries, Beatrice has stood as a symbol of unrequited love, transcending the physical to represent a divine, spiritual connection. Rossetti draws an intimate and deeply personal parallel between Dante’s grief and his own anguish following Elizabeth’s death on February 11, 1862. The result is a work steeped in layers of symbolism and emotion, blending art, literature, and autobiography.
The Composition and Its Symbolism
In Beata Beatrix, we see Elizabeth Siddal in the guise of Beatrice, moments before her death. Her eyes are closed, her lips slightly parted, and her head tilted back, as though she is slipping away from the earthly realm into a state of divine transcendence. Her hands rest gently in her lap, palms upturned, as though welcoming the red dove that hovers above her. The dove—a dual symbol of the Holy Spirit and peace—carries an opium poppy in its beak, a poignant nod to Elizabeth’s death by a laudanum overdose.
Rossetti often referred to Elizabeth as "The Dove," adding a layer of personal tenderness to this symbolic imagery. The opium poppy reinforces the theme of mortality, suggesting both the cause of her death and the ethereal nature of her passing.
Elizabeth wears a green and grey dress—colors Rossetti described as representing "hope and sorrow as well as love and life." The soft, hazy glow surrounding her figure lends her an otherworldly, almost spectral quality, as if she exists between life and death. Her radiant red hair, illuminated by a warm light, seems to foreshadow her ascension to the divine.
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A Landscape of Memory and Meaning
The background is rich with references to Dante’s Florence, anchoring the painting in the poetic world of La Vita Nuova. The River Arno and the iconic Ponte Vecchio provide a geographical context, while subtle details deepen the narrative. To the right, we see Dante himself, gazing towards the allegorical figure of Love, personified as an angel holding the flickering flame of Beatrice’s life. This flame is faint, but its presence underscores the fleeting yet eternal essence of Beatrice’s spirit.
A sundial in the background casts its shadow over the number nine—a deliberate allusion to the significance of this number in Dante’s work and Beatrice’s life. She died at 9 a.m. on the 9th of June, 1290, and the number nine recurs as a symbol of divine harmony throughout La Vita Nuova.
Immortalizing a Tragic Heroine
Beata Beatrix is not just a tribute to Beatrice Portinari or Elizabeth Siddal; it is a testament to Rossetti’s overwhelming grief and enduring love. The painting captures the emotional intensity of his loss, immortalizing Elizabeth as a tragically beautiful heroine caught in the liminal space between earthly sorrow and heavenly peace. It is hauntingly beautiful, deeply personal, and rich with layers of meaning that invite endless interpretation.
In Beata Beatrix, Rossetti transforms personal tragedy into timeless art, inviting us to explore the profound intersections of love, loss, and the enduring power of memory.
Fun Facts About Beata Beatrix
Rossetti designed the painting’s frame himself, embellishing it with gold leaf, the date of Beatrice’s death, and a quote from La Vita Nuova: “Quomodo sedet sola civitas” (“How doth the city sit solitary”).
The figure of Elizabeth was painted from sketches Rossetti had created before her death, adding an extra layer of poignancy to the work.
Bibliography
Alighieri, Dante. The New Life (La Vita Nuova). Translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, London: Ellis and Elvey, 1899.
Browning, Robert, Blagden, Isabella. Dearest Isa: Robert Browning's Letters to Isabella Blagden. United Kingdom: University of Texas Press, 1977.
Mégroz, Rodolphe Louis. Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Painter Poet of Heaven in Earth. United Kingdom: Faber & Gwyer, 1928.
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, Ernest Radford. Dante Gabriel Rossetti. United States: Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2018.
Rossetti, William Michael. Dante Gabriel Rossetti as Designer and Writer. United Kingdom: Cassell, Limited, 1889.
Sharp, William, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. A Record and a Study. London: Macmillan and Company, 1882.
Wood, Esther. Dante Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Movement. United Kingdom: Sampson Low, Marston & Comp., 1894.
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