On this day...

Painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born in 1828. The son of an Italian emigrant, Rossetti was originally named Gabriel Charles Dante, yet chose to use the latter in honour of 13th century poet Dante Aligheri. Like his siblings, who included devotional writer Christina Rossetti, Dante aspired to become a poet. However, his interest in medieval art proved stronger, and he trained at the Antique School of the Royal Academy. It was following an exhibition by William Holmunt Hunt, that Rossetti, with John Everet Milais, formed the group that he would ultimately be remembered for - the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Many of his most famous paintings were inspired by model, and later his wife, Elizabeth Siddal, yet the muse for 'Persephone', arguably his most famous work, was though to be a mistress. Rossetti was also the creator behind several famous poetry collections, including; 'The Early Italian Poets', the controversial 'Poems by D.G. Rossetti', and 'Ballads and Sonnets', of which possibly the best known poem is, 'The Blessed Damozel'. In his later life, Rossetti acquired an obsession for exotic animals, reputedly becoming the owner of a wombat, llama and toucan, the latter of which he forced to wear a cowboy hat, and ride the llama around the dining table for amusement, Rossetti died in 1882, aged 53.

On this day...

Poet and artist Elizabeth Siddal died in 1862, at the age of 32. Siddal developed a love of poetry from a young age. It is said that this stemmed from discovering a portion of a Tennyson work on a piece of newspaper used to wrap butter. Yet at the start of her life, Siddal had not the means to pursue such a career, and instead she worked in a hat shop. It was here that she, 'a most beautiful creature with an air between dignity and sweetness', was discovered by the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, and thus she went on to become one of the famous muses in the art world.

Painted by all three, William Holman Hunt, John Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, it was arguably to Millais that she made the greatest contribution. Whilst posing for his masterpiece, 'Ophelia', she endured icy temperatures float in a bath tub, eventually contracting pneumonia for her efforts. Yet it was Rossetti that she was to marry, and as well as considering aiding his work, she began to develop her own career, even finding funding in the form of art critic John Ruskin. However, following the marriage, Siddal became depressed and addicted to laudanum, a drug that was to tragically end her life. Rossetti buried her with a manuscript of poetry, which he then later published.

On this day...

English art and social critic John Ruskin died in 1900, at the age of 80. Ruskin showed an aptitude for writing from a young age, and by 15 he was contributing to several well known publications, including the 'Magazine of Natural History', and the 'Architectural Magazine'; the latter  under the pen name κατα φυσιν - 'according to nature'. Donning another pen name, of 'A Oxford Graduate', Ruskin published the first of his important works, 'Modern Painters', in which he argued the value of contemporary landscape painters such as Turner, over those of the post-Renaissance period. Yet perhaps he is more well known for his connections to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; supporting Rossetti, Hunt and Millais, until the latter married his wife, who had been granted divorce on account of impotency on Ruskin's part. Ruskin then changed his focus from art, to social theory. Greatly inspired by friend and critic Thomas Carlyle, he started to explore capitalism and its downfalls, influencing the development of both the Labour Party, and Christian Socialism. Ruskin was, as Tolstoy describes him, 'one of those rare men who think with their heart' and he has left a lasting legacy, even including the addition of the term pathetic fallacy to the language.

On this day...

English writer Charles Lutwig Dodgson, better known by pseudonym Lewis Carroll, died in 1898. Perhaps unusually for an author, Carroll was first an extremely proficient mathematician. Having attended Rugby school, he gained an Oxford place, and went on to achieve a first class honours and subsequent professorship. Shortly after, Carroll's work started to appear in national publications. Mostly of a humourous nature, it was printed in magazines ranging from 'The Comic Times' to 'The Oxford Critic'. It was from this that Carroll launched himself fully in art, becoming immersed in numerous forms, from literature itself, to photography and even inventions; an early variety of Scrabble has been attributed to his name. He also mixed with the preminent artistic crowd of the day, becoming friends with critic John Ruskin, and Dante Rossetti, John Everet Millais and William Hunter of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Yet, of course his favourite medium was writing and he contributed significantly to the genres of fantasy and children's literature. As a writer of prose, he will be best remembered for the frequently adapted 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', yet as a poet, his most famous contribution was the nonsensical work, 'The Jabberwocky'.

On this day...

English poet Christina Rossetti died in 1894 at the age of 64. Following the deterioration of her father's health in the 1840s, Rossetti suffered a nervous breakdown, leaving school and experiencing bouts of depression. The occurance also led her to explore the Anglo-Catholic movement, a move which was to impact considerably upon her life and induced the break off of an engagement and another subsequent relationship. Brother of artist Dante Gabriel, Rossetti modelled for some of his most famous paintings, including 'The Girlhood of MaryVirgin' and 'Ecce Ancilla Domini'. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood also gave her an opening for her writing; their literary magazine 'The Germ' contained several of her earlier published works. Her poems varying from devotianal to romantic, her most famous work is 'The Goblin Market', leading her to be labelled Elizabeth Barret Browning's 'natural successor'. Rossetti is also the author of popular Christmas carol 'In the Bleak Midwinter'.