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Beata Beatrix
Dante Gabriel Rossetti · Symbolism & Art Nouveau
- Artist
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882)
- Date
- c. 1864–1870
- Dimensions
- 86.4 x 66 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Tate Britain, London, United Kingdom
Beata Beatrix depicts Beatrice, the beloved of the poet Dante, at the moment of her death, shown as a trance of spiritual rapture. It is also a memorial to Rossetti's wife, Elizabeth Siddal, who died of an overdose of laudanum in 1862.
A closer look
Beatrice sits with her eyes closed and her lips slightly parted, bathed in a golden, hazy light, as a red dove, messenger of death, drops a white poppy, symbol of sleep and opium, into her open hands. In the background, through a misty view of Florence, Dante and the figure of Love look towards each other, and a sundial points to nine, a number linked to Beatrice. Rossetti began the painting soon after Siddal's death, using earlier drawings of her; it is a deeply personal image of grief and spiritual love.
More by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
In this gallery
Famous works elsewhere
- Ecce Ancilla Domini 1850
- Dante's Dream 1871
- Bocca Baciata 1859
- Lady Lilith 1866
- The Beloved 1865
- The Girlhood of Mary Virgin 1848