id: 168765 accession number: 2010.462 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.462 updated: 2023-03-22 03:04:44.337000 Portrait of William Michael Rossetti, c. 1853. Christina Georgina Rossetti (British, 1830–1894). Graphite; sheet: 17.9 x 12.8 cm (7 1/16 x 5 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2010.462 title: Portrait of William Michael Rossetti title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1853 creation date earliest: 1848 creation date latest: 1858 current location: creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund copyright: --- culture: England, 19th century technique: graphite department: Drawings collection: DR - British type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Christina Georgina Rossetti (British, 1830–1894) - artist --- measurements: Sheet: 17.9 x 12.8 cm (7 1/16 x 5 1/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: ivory wove paper watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: signed and inscribed, in graphite, at lower left: CGR William translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2013-02-10T00:00:00 British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE William Michael Rossetti, by descent date: footnotes: citations: (sale, Christie's, London, December 15, 2010, no. 13, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) date: 2010 footnotes: citations: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2010- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Christina and William Rossetti shared a strong emotional bond. Employed as a civil servant, William provided financial stability that allowed Christina to pursue poetry. digital description: The youngest of four children in the artistic Rossetti family, Christina Rossetti lived on the periphery of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, occasionally modeling for her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and submitting her poetry to the brotherhood’s journal, The Germ. Before achieving acclaim as a poet with works such as Goblin Market and Monna Innominata, she briefly considered pursuing a career as an artist. This portrait of her brother William is one of her few surviving drawings. In the spare profile, the figure’s eyes are downcast, as though reading or in private reverie, perhaps in reference to William’s work as a man of letters. wall description: The youngest of four children in the artistic Rossetti family, Christina Rossetti lived on the periphery of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, occasionally modeling for her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and submitting her poetry to the brotherhood’s journal, The Germ. Before achieving acclaim as a poet with works such as Goblin Market and Monna Innominata, she briefly considered pursuing a career as an artist. This portrait of her brother William is one of her few surviving drawings. In the spare profile, the figure’s eyes are downcast, as though reading or in private reverie, perhaps in reference to William’s work as a man of letters. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. page number: pp. 98-99, 148, no. 33; Reproduced: p. 99 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.462/2010.462_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.462/2010.462_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.462/2010.462_full.tif