Dante Gabriel Rossetti; Theodore Watts-Dunton

Sittersback to top

• Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), Painter and poet. Sitter associated with 29 portraits, Artist associated with 22 portraits.
• Theodore Watts-Dunton (1832-1914), Critic, novelist and poet. Sitter in 3 portraits.

Artistback to top

• Henry Treffry Dunn (1838-1899). Artist of 1 portrait.

This portraitback to top

Rossetti, a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, was both a painter and a poet, and was closely associated with Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris. Watts-Dunton, a solicitor as well as critic, novelist and poet, became Rossetti's companion in his later years. In this portrait the poet reads the proofs of his Ballads and Sonnets to Watts-Dunton. They are sitting together in the ground-floor drawing-room of the house they shared in Cheyne Walk, a room which was described by the artist Treffry Dunn as 'One of the prettiest and most curiously furnished old-fashioned parlours that I had ever seen. Mirrors and looking-glasses of all shapes, sizes and design lined the walls. Whichever way I looked I saw myself gazing at myself. What space there was left was filled up with pictures, chiefly old and of an interesting character'. The picture above Watts-Dunton's head is Rossetti's double portrait of his mother Lavinia and his sister, the poet Christina, which is also in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Related worksback to top

• NPG 990: Christina Georgina Rossetti; Frances Mary Lavinia Rossetti (née Polidori) (appears within the portrait)

Linked publicationsback to top

• Rogers, Malcolm, Master Drawings from the National Portrait Gallery, 1993 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 August to 23 October 1994), p. 135
• Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery: An Illustrated Guide, 2000, p. 150
• Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 534

Subjects & Themesback to top

• Art in art
• Carpets and textiles
• Chairs
• Clocks and timepieces
• Double portraits
• Fireplaces
• Known interiors
• Mirrors and reflections
• Reading