Jane Morris
Medium
pen and iron gall ink with brown wash on laid paper; laid down on paperboard
Dimensions
support: 17 x 21.5 cm (6 11/16 x 8 7/16 in.) mat: 27.9 x 35.6 cm (11 x 14 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
1988.29.1
Art Historical Context
Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s 1870 drawing captures Jane Morris, the artist’s frequent muse and wife of his close friend William Morris. Created in pen and iron gall ink with brown wash, the intimate portrait reflects Rossetti’s lifelong fascination with the female face as a vessel for beauty, emotion, and poetic meaning. As a leading figure of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, Rossetti often portrayed Jane with the same distinctive features—strong brows, full lips, and abundant hair—that appear across his paintings and drawings of the 1860s and 1870s. The choice of iron gall ink and delicate brown was...
About the Artist
Dante Gabriel Rossetti · 1828–1882
British artist. Comment on works: Allegory