Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/dante-gabriel-rossetti-461" aria-label="More by Dante Gabriel Rossetti" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Dante Gabriel Rossetti</a>
Girlhood Mary Virgin
Bequeathed by Lady Jekyll 1937
actions: postures and motions
adults
angel
animals: birds
architecture
arm / arms raised
art and craft
Bible: New Testament
book - non-specific
branch
briar
child
children
cross
daughter
domestic
dove
embroidery
embroidery stand
emotional states and conditions
family
father
fine arts and music
garden
garden structures
halo
heating and lighting
Holy Spirit - dove
interior - non-specific
interiors
leisure and pastimes
light / lamp
lily
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
man
mother
named individuals
objects
palm
Passion - briar
Passion - palm branch
people
piety - lamp
plants and flowers
purity - lily
reading, writing, printed matter
religion and belief
religious
religious and ceremonial
rose
Rossetti, Christina
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, ‘Mater Pilchrae Delectionis’
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, poems
Rossetti, Frances
Saints
sitting
society
St Anne
St Joachim
symbols and personifications
universal religious imagery
Virgin Mary
Virgin Mary - red
Virgin Mary - rose
woman
<p>Christ’s mother Mary (modelled by Rosetti’s sister, Christina) is shown here as a girl. She works on an embroidery with her mother (portrayed by Rosetti’s mother, Frances). In the background, Mary’s father is shown pruning a vine. The painting is full of Christian symbolism. The palm branch and thorn on the floor represent Christ. The books symbolise hope, faith and charity. The dove signifies the Holy Spirit. Rossetti completed this painting when he was 20 years old. It was the first picture to be exhibited with the initials ‘PRB’. This stood for Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a secret society of young artists founded in London in 1848.</p><p><em>Gallery label, November 2019</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
29 August 2001 – 25 July 2005
2005-07-25
29 August 2001
2001-08-29
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-08-29
Art and Victorian Society
Collection based display
1 October 2003 – 30 April 2004
2004-04-30
17 October 2003 – 18 January 2004
2004-01-18
2003-10-17
Walker Art Gallery (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
27 February 2004 – 6 April 2004
2004-04-06
2004-02-27
Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/
2003-10-01
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Loan-out
1 August 2005 – 30 July 2007
2007-07-30
1 August 2005
2005-08-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2005-08-01
The Pre-Raphaelites
Collection based display
11 October 2008 – 6 September 2009
2009-09-06
14 February 2009 – 10 May 2009
2009-05-10
2009-02-14
Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, Canada)
http://www.ago.net
13 June 2009 – 6 September 2009
2009-09-06
2009-06-13
Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minneapolis, USA)
2008-10-11
Holman Hunt and the Pre-Raphaelite Vision
Loan-out
12 September 2012 – 31 January 2014
2014-01-31
12 September 2012 – 13 January 2013
2013-01-13
2012-09-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-09-12
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Exhibition
5 November 2012 – 20 July 2014
2014-07-20
5 November 2012 – 20 July 2014
2014-07-20
2012-11-05
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-11-05
Gallery 9
Collection based display
7 August 2014 – 24 July 2022
2022-07-24
7 August 2014
2014-08-07
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2014-08-07
Gallery 9
Collection based display
2 October 2017 – 2 April 2018
2018-04-02
2 October 2017 – 2 April 2018
2018-04-02
2017-10-02
National Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
2017-10-02
Jan van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites
Loan-out
6 April 2023 – 24 September 2023
2023-09-24
6 April 2023 – 24 September 2023
2023-09-24
2023-04-06
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2023-04-06
The Rossettis
Exhibition
The Girlhood of Mary Virgin
support: 832 × 654 mm
frame: 1080 × 905 × 75 mm
Bequeathed by Lady Jekyll 1937
<div class="text">
<p>Christ’s mother Mary (modelled by Rosetti’s sister, Christina) is shown here as a girl. She works on an embroidery with her mother (portrayed by Rosetti’s mother, Frances). In the background, Mary’s father is shown pruning a vine. The painting is full of Christian symbolism. The palm branch and thorn on the floor represent Christ. The books symbolise hope, faith and charity. The dove signifies the Holy Spirit. Rossetti completed this painting when he was 20 years old. It was the first picture to be exhibited with the initials ‘PRB’. This stood for Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a secret society of young artists founded in London in 1848.</p>
</div>

Display caption
2019-11-14T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
actions: postures and motions adults angel animals: birds architecture arm / arms raised art and craft Bible: New Testament book - non-specific branch briar child children cross daughter domestic dove embroidery embroidery stand emotional states and conditions family father fine arts and music garden garden structures halo heating and lighting Holy Spirit - dove interior - non-specific interiors leisure and pastimes light / lamp lily literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) man mother named individuals objects palm Passion - briar Passion - palm branch people piety - lamp plants and flowers purity - lily reading, writing, printed matter religion and belief religious religious and ceremonial rose Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, ‘Mater Pilchrae Delectionis’ Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, poems Rossetti, Frances Saints sitting society St Anne St Joachim symbols and personifications universal religious imagery Virgin Mary Virgin Mary - red Virgin Mary - rose woman