Information
The simple message of the 'parable' is that while the young man assists his beloved with her self-portrait, the mirror ('Love's Mirror') improves on art by reflecting an image of the two lovers together. Whether the features of the woman are meant to be those of Elizabeth Siddal is unclear, but the subject can be read as a romanticised image of her in the dual role of Rossetti's model and pupil in the earliest days of their relationship. These is no contemporary reference to this drawing, although it is known to have belonged to the poet Coventry Patmore (possibly as a gift from the artist), who was an intimate associate of the Pre-Raphalites. The model for the young man in the drawing may have been Thomas Woolner.
- Purchased and presented by subscribers, 1903.
- © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
Makers
Association |
Artist |
Organisation |
Artist |
Dante Gabriel Rossetti |
- |
Exhibitions
Catalogue No. |
Venue |
Date(s) |
Old Masters...deceased members of the British School...works by Linnell and Rossetti |
330 |
Royal Academy of Arts, London |
1883-01-01 - 1883-03-10 |
|
Works by English Pre-Raphaelite Painters Lent by the Art Gallery Committee of the Birmingham Corporation |
32 |
Tate Gallery, London |
1911-12 - 1912-03 |
|
Pre-Raphaelite Women |
16 |
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
1986-10-19 - 1986-01-02 |
16 |
Stoke-on-Trent Museum and Art Gallery |
1986-09-13 - 1986-10-19 |
|
Dante Gabriel Rossetti |
118 |
Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo |
1990-09-22 - 1990-11-14 |
|
Visions of Love and Life: Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection, England |
16 |
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington |
1995-03-09 - 1995-05-07 |
16 |
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio |
1995-05-27 - 1995-07-16 |
16 |
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington |
1995-08-11 - 1995-10-15 |
16 |
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas |
1995-11-04 - 1996-01-02 |
16 |
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia |
1996-01-23 - 1996-04-10 |
16 |
Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery |
1996-05-25 - 1996-09-29 |
|
Dante Gabriel Rossetti |
49 |
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool |
2003-10-16 - 2004-01-18 |
49 |
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam |
2004-02-27 - 2004-06-06 |
|
Love Revealed: Simeon Solomon and the Pre-Raphaelites |
52 |
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
2005-10-01 - 2006-01-15 |
52 |
Museum Villa Stuck, Munich |
2006-03-09 - 2006-06-18 |
|
The Pre-Raphaelites |
44 |
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
2009-02-26 - 2006-05-24 |
|
Literature
Author(s) |
Date(s) |
Publisher |
Pages |
- |
|
May 1894 |
The Portfolio |
p. 31. |
|
Dante Gabriel Rossetti: an Illustrated Memorial of his Art and Life |
H C Marillier |
1899 |
George Bell and Sons, London |
no. 19; p. 65. |
|
City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery: Catalogue of the Permanent Collection of Drawings |
A E Whitley |
1939 |
Bemrose & Sons, Ltd., Derby |
p. 366. |
|
Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828-1882, The Paintings and Drawings: A Catalogue Raisonne |
Virginia Surtees |
1971 |
Oxford University Press, London |
vol. 1, no. 668, p. 220. |
|
Pre-Raphaelite Drawings: Dante Gabriel Rossetti |
Andrea Rose |
1977 |
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London |
no. 3D7. |
|
The Art of Dante Gabriel Rossetti: 3. The Watercolours and Drawings of 1850-1855 |
A I Grieve |
1978 |
Real World, Norwich |
no. 57. |
|
Visions of Love and Life: Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection, England |
Stephen Wildman |
1995 |
Art Services International, Alexandria, Virginia |
p. 102. |
|
Dante Gabriel Rossetti |
Edwin Becker, Elizabeth Prettejohn, Julian Treuherz |
2003 |
Waanders, Zwolle |
p. 163. |
|
Love Revealed: Simeon Solomon and the Pre-Raphaelites |
Colin Cruise |
2005 |
Merrell, London |
p. 102. |
|
The Pre-Raphaelites |
|
2009 |
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
cat.44, p.140 |
Provenance
Coventry Patmore; Patmore Sale, Christie's 6 April 1898 (lot 10 entitled 'Love's Mirror') £35.14s; Charles Fairfax Murray. |
Associated people
Related work & resources
Discuss this work
|