#MusesInArt: Lizzie - The beautiful but ill-fated muse of England

Hundreds of years have passed since the masterpiece of British painting was last seen.OpheliaIt was created. Not only did it captivate art lovers with its exquisite detail and the tragic story it depicted, but the work also aroused curiosity about the woman of dazzling and tragic beauty who served as its model. That woman was Elizabeth Siddal, or more affectionately known as Lizzie, the beautiful, talented, yet ill-fated redhead muse from the land of mist.

Born with a love for poetry and painting.

Born in 1829, Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal (Lizzie) grew up in a working-class business family. Lizzie was literate and nurtured a passion for poetry and art from a young age. However, it was only after meeting the Pre-Raphaelite painters and becoming the lover of the renowned artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti that she truly began to seriously pursue an artistic career.

At that time, England was still quite conservative in its views on women as artists. They were not allowed to study in prestigious, formal art schools. Even if they didn't come from wealthy or powerful families or have a good marriage, they didn't have the right to a basic education. Therefore, female artists like Lizzie always had to struggle to gain recognition. Their works and achievements in art were often overshadowed by male artists of the time.

Throughout her life, Lizzie created a total of 11 oil and watercolor paintings and around 30 pencil drawings. Her style was deeply influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite movement, characterized by romantic themes, sharp angles, and attention to detail. Although not achieving widespread fame, Lizzie played a significant role in the development of Pre-Raphaelite painting in particular and British art in general. In 1984, she was also the only female artist of this movement to have her work exhibited at Tate Britain.

Besides painting, Lizzie also had a love for poetry. The themes in her poems often stemmed from lost love and death, partly reflecting the private feelings of a sensitive heart amidst a turbulent life.

"Her poems are as simple and moving as gentle music, and her paintings possess both the authenticity of the medieval spirit and the aesthetics of pre-Raphaelite art," literary critic William Gaunt once shared.

The Muse of Painters

Lizzie modeled for many Pre-Raphaelite painters in 19th-century England, notably Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Deverell. However, these artists found their muse for their classic works in an incredibly serendipitous way.

In 1849, the painter Walter Deverell was reportedly strolling down an alley behind Leicester Square in London when he spotted Lizzie, then 19 years old, working in a hat shop. Miraculously, he managed to persuade Lizzie to pose for his painting.The Twelfth Night, in the role of Viola.

Among the paintings that Lizzie modeled for, the masterpiece that achieved the most success and brought Lizzie's name to public attention wasOphelia, completed by the artist John Everett Millais in 1852.

The work recreates the story of Ophelia, a beautiful and passionate woman from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Tormented by the pain of her father's death at the hands of her lover, she wanders along the riverbank and accidentally slips and falls into the water while picking wildflowers. The moment she gives up and lets the river engulf her is the inspiration for Millais's magnificent, tragic, yet poetic work.

Besides Millais's meticulous research and masterful brushstrokes, Lizzie's contribution to Ophelia's success is also significant. With her large, round, copper-brown eyes, slender, graceful figure, and captivating, wavy red hair, Lizzie became the ideal model for the legendary Ophelia. Beyond her beautiful appearance, this perfect embodiment was also evident in her expressive demeanor, conveying the bewilderment, despair, and melancholy of the young woman. Perhaps Lizzie's quiet, sensitive personality and her own tumultuous life were part of the reason she empathized with and successfully portrayed the character's tragedy.

Few people know that, to realistically recreate the image of Ophelia floating on the water, Lizzie had to immerse herself in a freezing cold bathtub for hours. Although she placed several oil lamps nearby to keep warm, this still severely affected her already frail health. The success of the painting is a well-deserved reward for Lizzie's efforts and sacrifices for art.

A tragic love affair with the renowned painter Gabriel Rossetti

Lizzie and Rossetti met when she was 20 years old. The intense emotions of youth and their shared love of art bound them together and transformed into a romantic love.

During their 12 years together, Rossetti created over 60 works of art about his muse. He depicted Lizzie with utmost tenderness, highlighting her most striking features so that she could shine under each brushstroke. Furthermore, Rossetti also acted as a mentor, guiding Lizzie in pursuing the artistic career she had dreamed of since childhood.

Witnessing the affection and perfect understanding between the young couple, anyone would expect a happy ending. However, this love story did not have a happy conclusion.

Lizzie's health was a constant burden throughout her life. There are no specific records of the illness she battled, only that she was dependent on laudanum – an opium tincture used for pain relief and sedation. Furthermore, the Rossetti family strongly opposed their relationship, concerned about her background, education, and health. Family pressure, the fading of her beauty and health, and the conflicts within their love created an unbridgeable gap between them.

In that context, Rossetti sought out many other beautiful women to model for his works. Many sources reveal that he developed feelings for several of them. Lizzie incorporated the pain of betrayal and the conflict between love and hatred into her poems, such as...Dead Love, Love and HateHowever, after many conflicts, they finally reunited in 1857.

Three years later, noticing Lizzie's declining health, Rossetti proposed to her. The joy of a new home gradually helped Lizzie recover, but their happiness was short-lived. In 1862, Rossetti found his wife in a coma due to a drug overdose. Lizzie died the following morning at the age of 32.

Rossetti placed his handwritten poems in Lizzie's coffin. He told his friends, "I used to write those poems when Lizzie was sick and struggling, I took care of her, and now it's time for these poems to go with her."

Many years after her death, Rossetti created the painting.Beata Beatrix- This is the most famous portrait of Lizzie by the renowned artist. It was inspired by a poem.La Vita NuovaIn Dante's work about the grief of lost love, Rossetti seems to have poured all his unhealed pain into it.

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