However, by modern-day standards, the relationship was technically non-existent. In Medieval terms, it was a courtly love, which is often secret, unrequited and considered a highly respectful form of admiration for somebody.

According to the writer, their relationship was an embodiment of Romanticism.

Not much information about her biography has survived for our reference and most of what we know of her comes from the works of Dante himself. The Story of Dante and Beatriceīeatrice Portinari, the Florentine socialite and a daughter of a wealthy banker, was the principal muse and greatest love of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. Through symbolism, Rossetti ties two love stories together one of Beatrice and Dante and the other of Siddal and himself, thus delineating their short and tragic marriage. The female figure is Alighieri’s beloved muse, Beatrice Portinari (1266-1290), and was the inspiration for Siddal’s portrait. The painting illustrates the last chapter of the poem La Vita Nuova by Dante Alighieri, the Medieval Florentine writer. Discover the fascinating meanings of the symbols that the painter incorporated into this portrait.ĭante Gabriel Rossetti started Beata Beatrix in 1863 after the death of his wife Elizabeth Siddal (1829-1862). Read the story of Beata Beatrix by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, one of the key members of the Pre-Raphaelites movement.

Beata beatrix