Sancta Lilias - Dante Gabriel Rossetti
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Description
A portrait of a woman in a state of spiritual reverie, painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1874, featuring a luminous gold background and delicate floral motifs.
Sancta Lilias, painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1874, is a variation of his earlier work, Beata Beatrix. The painting features a female figure, modelled by Alexa Wilding, who appears frequently in Rossetti's later output. The subject is depicted with her head tilted, her expression one of quiet contemplation or spiritual reverie. Her auburn hair flows around her shoulders, adorned with small, star-like blossoms that echo the ethereal quality of the composition.
The background is a flat, gilded surface, which removes the figure from a specific physical environment and places her in a symbolic, timeless space. This use of gold leaf and yellow tones creates a luminous effect, drawing attention to the subject's features and the single iris she holds. The iris, a traditional symbol of purity and the Virgin Mary, reinforces the title, which translates to Holy Lily.
Rossetti's approach here moves away from the narrative realism of his early career. Instead, he focuses on the aesthetic qualities of the image. The composition is tight, focusing on the head and shoulders of the sitter. The colour palette is dominated by shades of gold, amber, and the deep red of the subject's hair. This work reflects the artist's interest in the cult of beauty and the symbolic potential of the female form. The painting is a clear example of the shift towards the Aesthetic movement, where the visual harmony of the piece takes precedence over complex storytelling. The figure's downward gaze and the soft lighting contribute to a sense of stillness, inviting the viewer to observe the subject in a moment of private reflection.
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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.
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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
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- 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
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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
Sancta Lilias - 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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