'The Two Mothers', Dante Gabriel Rossetti

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This is a fragment of a much larger painting based on a poem by Robert Browning. Rossetti| began the work in 1850 but cut it up, preserving the figure of the woman who was originally to have been shown reading a volume of Italian poetry. Later he added the little girl and the statuette of the virgin and child to make a sentimental image of family piety. The change in his painting style over the years is clearly visible.