Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born on May 12, 1828, in London, England. The son of an Italian immigrant, Rossetti developed an appreciation for reading and writing romantic literature early in life. Throughout his years at King’s College School and Cary’s Art Academy, both in London, Rossetti bloomed into a talented poet and painter, pausing slightly in his artistic aspirations while he attended the Royal Academy in 1848.

That same year, Rossetti founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood with other writers and artists, including William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. The Brotherhood did not last long, but because of Rossetti’s devotion, the group’s influence lasted. His painting and that of his fellow Pre-Raphaelites … [Rossetti did not find overwhelming fame with his painting, and began focusing more exclusively on poetry] …attempted to return attention to the tiniest details and vibrant colors of classical Italian works before Raphael and Michaelangelo. Rossetti’s art, which often featured Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal as a model, did not sell at first, despite his powerful idealism and talent in watercolors more so than in oil painting. During that time, he also composed verses that were published in literary magazines, especially the Pre-Raphaelite publication The Germ. Rossetti married a sickly Siddal, suffering from depression and other physical ailments, in 1860 and two years later endured her tragic passing after an overdose of laudanum. He placed in her casket the only complete manuscript of his poetry, but recovered it in 1869 and published it the following year.

Rossetti did not find overwhelming fame with his painting, and began focusing more exclusively on poetry as a means of relaxation. His work appeared in several literary magazines and he published a few collections through the 1880s, including Hand and Soul (1850), Poems (1870), and The House of Life, Sonnet Sequence (1870). He also published a volume of translations, titled The Early Italian Poets (1861). Although Rossetti enjoyed positive recognition for his poems, his personal life suffered because of both physical and mental illness. His writing and painting grew darker and more morbid, and in 1872 he attempted suicide. Rossetti’s final publication, Ballads and Sonnets, was printed in 1881, and the following year he died on April 5 in England at only fifty-three years old.