{"@context":"http:\/\/iiif.io\/api\/presentation\/2\/context.json","@id":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/16551\/manifest.json","@type":"sc:Manifest","label":"Beata Beatrix","description":[{"value":"Both a poet and a painter, Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a circle of Victorian artists united in their appreciation of medieval aesthetics and the \u201cprimitive\u201d style of pre-Renaissance art. Rossetti found inspiration forBeata Beatrix in La vita nuova (The New Life), written by his namesake, the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, in 1295. Rossetti\u2019s scene draws a parallel between Dante\u2019s love for the late Beatrice and his own aff ection for his recently deceased wife and muse, Elizabeth Siddal. While the picture is a tribute to Siddal, Rossetti was adamant that it does not represent her death; rather, the work portrays her as if in a trance or other spiritual state.\nThe work\u2019s symbolism similarly combines details from Rossetti\u2019s personal life with those from La vita nuova. \u201cThe Dove\u201d was the artist\u2019s nickname for Siddal, and a haloed dove delivers her a white poppy, a symbol of the laudanum\u2014a derivative of opium\u2014that caused her death by overdose. Above her head rises the Ponte Vecchio, the Florentine bridge that served as the setting for Dante\u2019s poem. To the upper left  is the personi\ufb01 cation of Love and to the right the \ufb01 gure of Dante, who doubles as a representation of Rossetti himself. The sundial shadows the number nine, the age at which they met and also the hour and day of her death. Rossetti designed the frame, which he inscribed at the top right: \u201cHow doth the city sit solitary,\u201d a quote from the opening of the biblical book of Lamentations, which Dante uses to express how the city of Florence itself seemed to mourn Beatrice.\nGiven the work\u2019s deeply personal nature, Rossetti initially refused his patron William Graham\u2019s request to create a replica, although he eventually yielded. The Art Institute\u2019s painting is this second version, which includes a predella\u2014the painted scene at the bottom of the frame\u2014depicting Beatrice and Dante\u2019s reunion in paradise. With this addition, Rossetti provided the medieval love story with a happy conclusion, perhaps suggesting that he, too, had begun to come to terms with his grief.\n","language":"en"}],"metadata":[{"label":"Artist \/ Maker","value":"Dante Gabriel Rossetti (English, 1828\u20131882)"},{"label":"Medium","value":"Oil on canvas"},{"label":"Dimensions","value":"87.5 \u00d7 69.3 cm (34 7\/16 \u00d7 27 1\/4 in.); Predella: 26.5 \u00d7 69.2 cm (10 7\/16 \u00d7 27 1\/4 in.); Framed: 156.2 \u00d7 102.9 cm (61 1\/2 \u00d7 40 1\/2 in.)"},{"label":"Object Number","value":"1925.722"},{"label":"Collection","value":"<a href='http:\/\/www.artic.edu\/collection' target='_blank'>Art Institute of Chicago<\/a>"}],"attribution":"Digital image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.","logo":"https:\/\/raw.githubusercontent.com\/Art-Institute-of-Chicago\/template\/main\/aic-logo.gif","within":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu\/collection","rendering":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu\/artworks\/16551","format":"text\/html","label":"Full record"},"sequences":[{"@type":"sc:Sequence","canvases":[{"@type":"sc:Canvas","@id":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2\/194674a2-f451-65f7-ba46-6aac4d894f0b","label":"Beata Beatrix, 1871\u201372. Dante Gabriel Rossetti (English, 1828\u20131882)","width":843,"height":1234,"images":[{"@type":"oa:Annotation","motivation":"sc:painting","on":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2\/194674a2-f451-65f7-ba46-6aac4d894f0b","resource":{"@type":"dctypes:Image","@id":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2\/194674a2-f451-65f7-ba46-6aac4d894f0b\/full\/843,\/0\/default.jpg","width":843,"height":1234,"service":{"@context":"http:\/\/iiif.io\/api\/image\/2\/context.json","@id":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2\/194674a2-f451-65f7-ba46-6aac4d894f0b","profile":"http:\/\/iiif.io\/api\/image\/2\/level2.json"}}}]}]}]}