May Morris - Dante Gabriel Rossetti
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Description
A delicate portrait of May Morris by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, executed in coloured chalks in 1872.
This portrait depicts May Morris, the daughter of William Morris and Jane Morris, at a young age. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, produced this work in 1872 using coloured chalks. The medium allows for a softness in the rendering of the subject, particularly in the treatment of the hair and the delicate contours of the face.
Rossetti often favoured models with specific physical traits, and May Morris, with her auburn hair and contemplative expression, fits the aesthetic ideal common to his later works. The composition is intimate, focusing on the upper torso and head of the sitter. She is shown in a relaxed posture, resting her arms upon a ledge or table, which provides a horizontal anchor to the frame. Her gaze is directed away from the viewer, suggesting a moment of quiet introspection.
Technically, the drawing demonstrates Rossetti's skill in capturing texture and light through the application of chalk. The folds of the garment are rendered with fluid lines, while the shading around the eyes and neck provides a sense of volume. The work is characteristic of the period when Rossetti moved away from the narrative complexity of his earlier paintings towards more atmospheric, singular studies of female beauty. The inclusion of a small flower held in her hands adds a subtle symbolic element, a recurring motif in his portraiture. This piece remains a significant example of his late-career draughtsmanship, reflecting his interest in the personal connections within the circle of the Arts and Crafts movement.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
May Morris - Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Artist Biography
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
He was born in London to an Italian political exile and named after the author of the Divine Comedy. His father was a professor of Italian at King's College. The household ran on poetry, politics, and argument. Rossetti wrote verse throughout his life and considered himself a poet as much as a painter.
His early paintings are small, bright, and meticulously detailed in the Pre-Raphaelite manner. The Girlhood of Mary Virgin and Ecce Ancilla Domini have the flat, jewelled quality of medieval altarpieces. After 1860 the style changed. The paintings became larger, more sensual, and dominated by the face and figure of Jane Burden, who was William Morris's wife.
The relationship between Rossetti, Morris, and Jane is one of the more uncomfortable triangles in art history. Morris married her. Rossetti painted her obsessively. She modelled for Proserpine, La Pia de' Tolomei, and dozens of other works in which she appears as a mythological woman trapped in an unwanted situation. Whether the affair was physical remains debated. Morris, characteristically, said nothing publicly and channelled his feelings into wallpaper.
Rossetti buried a manuscript of his poems in his wife Lizzie Siddal's coffin when she died of a laudanum overdose in 1862. Seven years later he had the coffin exhumed to retrieve them. He published the poems. He was addicted to chloral hydrate by then and increasingly paranoid. He died in 1882, at fifty-three.
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