Beautiful, captivating, inspiring, complicated and often misunderstood - the women who became muses for their masters had more in common with the artists who painted them than might be seen on first glance.

These women from all walks of life often reviled and looked down on in their own time, have transcended their humble beginnings through canvas and paint to inspire and utterly captivate their audiences.

Elizabeth Rossetti (née Elizabeth "Lizzie" Siddall) 1829 - 1862

Born in 1829 Lizzie was first "discovered" by the artist Walter Deverell in 1849 who had close associations with Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Less than 2 years later, Lizzie was sitting almost exclusively for the jealous Rossetti.

Lizzie's life with the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was turbulent and complicated, much like her relationship with Rossetti who during his lifetime painted and drew thousands of pictures of the young woman - who later became his wife.



Illness from posing in a freezing bath of water for Millais' "Ophelia", afflicted with depression and an addiction to Laudanum affected Lizzie's health greatly.  It is perhaps her struggle with this, that makes such a striking comparison with the beautiful aloof woman you see in the paintings of her.
 
The circumstances surrounding her tragic death in 1862 - attributed to an accidental overdose of Laudanum and persistent depression after the birth of her still-born daughter, along with tales of a suicide note, means to this day it remains somewhat of a mystery.

Laid to rest in Highgate Cemetery her grave, tragically re-opened by Rossetti 7 years after to retrieve his manuscript of poems spurred further folklore. Howell, Rossetti's agent who was present at the exhumation is said to have told Rossetti later that her body had lain preserved, and her delicate beauty intact surrounded by her copper hair - which had by all accounts continued to grow after her death, filled the coffin.

Her grave - frequently to be found with fresh flowers on it, has become a place of pilgrimage for fans and admirers of both Lizzie herself and Rossetti's work.

Fanny Cornforth (Sarah Cox?) 1835? – 1906?

Fanny (Her real name is thought to be Sarah Cox) was discovered by Rossetti in 1858 during the years that Lizzie was living in France to improve her health. Fanny was born into a working class family of a Blacksmith.  Throughout her life and after her somewhat undocumented death, she was branded by critics amongst other things, an obese illiterate prostitute and a thief; a woman from a poor background who was greedy for more than money and fame.

Despite this less than flattering description from her critics, Fanny's earthly beauty delighted Rossetti who continued to paint her after Lizzie's death when Fanny moved into his home to be his house keeper.  Her striking and bold red hair became almost synonymous with the Pre-Raphaelite look.



It is to be noted that Rossetti's final thoughts were of Fanny, showing his continued fondness for her despite their relationship being frowned upon.

Jane Morris (née Jane Burden) 1839 - 1914

Jane Burden was the daughter of a stableman, born in Oxford.  It was whilst at a theatre showing in the audience that she was noticed by Rossetti and Burn-Jones who asked her to model for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.  Her first "sitting" was initially Rossetti who was at the time painting "Queen Guinevere"  during which time she was introduced to William Morris, whom later she married.

After Lizzie passed away Rossetti turned more and more to Jane as his muse, and despite her being married to Morris they formed an attachment that lasted til Rossetti's death in some form or another.

Jane, like Lizzie and Fanny had striking features with her dark hair and Romanesque profile.  She is noted for having rather large hands, though with the help of private education after her marriage to Morris, she was also noted for her extreme grace and "queenly" presence.

Henry James a novelist described Jane
"...with a maze of crisp black hair, heaped in a great wavy projections on each of her temples, a thin pale face, great thick black oblique brows, joined in the middle and tucking themselves away under her hair, a mouth like the "Oriana" in our illustrated Tennyson, a long neck, without any collar, and in lieu thereof some dozen strings of outlandish beads. In fine complete."

Her close association to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood encouraged her own creativity in embroidery and painting fostered by her husband and the development of the Arts & Crafts movement that came out of the Pre-Raphaelite era.



The only surviving oil painting by her husband William Morris conveys just how much she was admired and loved by the artists who drew her.  Morris in despair of being able to capture her beauty wrote on the work
"I cannot paint you but I love you"

To Every Artist, a Muse

In any shape or form we all find inspiration in a variety of ways; ask any artist and they will tell you that at some point they have been inspired by an artistic "muse"  

1) Have you had - or do you currently have an artistic muse?
2) Do you think that having an artistic muse is as important in modern styles of art?

Further Reading

I highly recommend the following sites and blogs with grateful thanks which were extremely helpful in putting together this short article.  If you have as much interest in Pre-Raphaelite art as I do you will find them great reads!

LizzieSiddal.com
JaneMorris.blogspot.co.uk
FannyCornforth.blogspot.com
RossettiArchive.org
PreRaphaeliteSisterhood.com
TheBeautifulNecessity.blogspot.co.uk

Since men and women first learnt to use charcoal and stones to make marks on rocks in caves they have been obsessed with capturing what they see around them.

The human form in all its odd, beautiful, exotic, strangeness has been for many artists their Achilles heel.  Without references to guide our hand, to delight the eye and inspire the imagination - artwork would remain as cave paintings warning people not to enter in case of bears.





Each artist depicts what they see in their own unique way.  Some try to emulate and some forge their own path, but no matter how you are inspired or what media you use to create your work - remember the lessons of other painters who came before. 



Look, and see with your own eyes at the world around you.  Use references of structure, light, depth to make your own work  more realistic. 





With the development of the internet, artists no longer even need to leave their studios to be exposed to a veritable wealth of digital stock sources and references on any subject they can possibly imagine.  However, every digital image is flawed in that it is a 2D representation of a 3D subject.  You can not turn a photo to see how shadows change on the face of a child, you can not move a models arms into a better pose and you are subject to the creators vision as they took the image or created it digitally.



Recognizing and understanding this limitation of digital stock and reference images or indeed even a 2D pencil sketch drawn whilst a subject was sat in front of the artist - should help you to compare more subjectively the differences between a flat 2D image and a 3D subject.  This flaw reinforces the need to "see" with your own eyes, to touch and experience shadow and light on a subject, enabling you ultimately to create a better representation of what you envision in your artwork.