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Frances Mary Lavinia Rossetti (née Polidori)

(1800-1886), Mother of Dante Gabriel, William Michael and Christina Rossetti

Sitter in 5 portraits
She is noted for her family connections more than in her own right. The daughter of Italian exile Gaetano Polidori and sister of John Polidori, Lord Byron's physician, she married the Italian exile Gabriele Rossetti in London. Her two sons, Gabriel Charles Dante (later known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti) and William Michael were among the co-founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Frances sat for Gabriel for some of his early paintings. Her youngest child, Christina Georgina, became famous as a poet and is probably best known as the author of the poem Goblin Market.

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The Rossetti Family, by Lewis Carroll - NPG P56

The Rossetti Family

by Lewis Carroll
albumen print, 7 October 1863
NPG P56

Maria Francesca Rossetti; Frances Mary Lavinia Rossetti (née Polidori); Dante Gabriel Rossetti, by Lewis Carroll - NPG P1273(21b)

Maria Francesca Rossetti; Frances Mary Lavinia Rossetti (née Polidori); Dante Gabriel Rossetti

by Lewis Carroll
albumen print, 7 October 1863
NPG P1273(21b)

The Rossetti family, by Lewis Carroll - NPG P1273(25b)

The Rossetti family

by Lewis Carroll
albumen print, 7 October 1863
NPG P1273(25b)

Frances Mary Lavinia Rossetti (née Polidori), by Lewis Carroll - NPG P1273(26e)

Frances Mary Lavinia Rossetti (née Polidori)

by Lewis Carroll
albumen print, 7 October 1863
NPG P1273(26e)

Christina Rossetti; Frances Mary Lavinia Rossetti (née Polidori), by Dante Gabriel Rossetti - NPG 990

Christina Rossetti; Frances Mary Lavinia Rossetti (née Polidori)

by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
chalk, 1877
NPG 990

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