Dante Gabriel Rossetti
This exhibition was held at the Walker Art Gallery in 2003/4.
Illustration from 'Poems by Alfred Tennyson', Wood engraving by Dalziel brothers after Rossetti's design, published 1857, 9.8 x 8cm, Stephen Calloway
The lonely Mariana, whose fate is 'To live forgotten and love forlorn', kneels before a crucifix, kissing Christ's feet. She clasps old letters written to her by the lover who never comes.
Rossetti has captured the mournful and claustrophobic spirit of the poem. However, he has substituted a crucifix for the image of 'Our Lady' mentioned in the poem. The mirror also reflects Mariana's back view not 'the clear perfection of her face'.