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>
Beata Beatrix
Presented by Georgiana, Baroness Mount-Temple in memory of her husband, Francis, Baron Mount-Temple 1889
adults
animals: birds
architecture
Beatrice
birth to death
birth to death
bridge
bridges and viaducts
characters
cities, towns, villages (non-UK)
countries and continents
Dante Alighieri
Dante, ‘La Vita Nuova’
death
death - dove
death - poppy
diseases and conditions
dove
drug-induced state
emotional states and conditions
Florence, Ponte Vecchio
Holy Spirit - dove
individuals: female
individuals: male
Italy
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
love - angel
love - flame
man
memorial
mourning
mysticism
named individuals
objects
people
places
plants and flowers
poppy
portraits
religion and belief
religious
scientific and measuring
Siddal, Elizabeth Eleanor
society
suicide
sundial
symbols and personifications
townscape, distant
townscapes / man-made features
trance
transfiguration
vision
woman
<p>Rossetti’s inspiration was Dante’s <span>La Vita Nuova </span>(‘The New Life’), which explores the Italian poet’s idealised love for Beatrice and her premature death. As an omen of death, a bird drops a white poppy between her open hands. In the background the ghostly Dante gazes towards the figure of Love. Rossetti viewed this as a memorial to his wife and the model for Beatrice, Elizabeth Siddall, who had died in 1862. Rossetti had buried the manuscripts of his unpublished poems including <span>On the Vita Nuova of Dante </span>with his wife but, in a macabre twist, retrieved and published them in 1870.</p><p><em>Gallery label, November 2016</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
18 February 2007 – 20 May 2007
2007-05-20
18 February 2007 – 20 May 2007
2007-05-20
2007-02-18
Palazzo dei Diamanti (Ferrara, Italy)
2007-02-18
Symbolism
Loan-out
6 October 2007 – 13 January 2008
2008-01-13
6 October 2007 – 13 January 2008
2008-01-13
2007-10-06
Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Ghent, Belgium)
http://www.gent.be/
2007-10-06
British Vision, Observation and Imagination in British Art, 1750 -1950
Loan-out
15 August 2008 – 15 November 2008
2008-11-15
15 August 2008 – 15 November 2008
2008-11-15
2008-08-15
Musei Civici di Palazzo d’Avalos (Vasto, Italy)
2008-08-15
I Rossetti tra Vasto e Londra
Loan-out
26 February 2009 – 24 May 2009
2009-05-24
26 February 2009 – 24 May 2009
2009-05-24
2009-02-26
National Museum of Fine Arts (Stockholm, Sweden)
http://www.nationalmuseum.se
2009-02-26
The Pre-Raphaelites
Loan-out
18 August 2009 – 14 November 2010
2010-11-14
18 August 2009 – 14 November 2010
2010-11-14
2009-08-18
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2009-08-18
Sublime
Collection based display
1 November 2011 – 21 October 2012
2012-10-21
1 November 2011 – 19 February 2012
2012-02-19
2011-11-01
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
2011-11-01
Blake Exhibition
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/
17 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-17
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
10 June 2013 – 22 September 2013
2013-09-22
2013-06-10
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
19 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-19
Palazzo Chiablese (Turin, Italy)
2012-09-12
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Exhibition
17 February 2013 – 31 August 2014
2014-08-31
17 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-17
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
10 June 2013 – 13 October 2013
2013-10-13
2013-06-10
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
19 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-19
Palazzo Chiablese (Turin, Italy)
2013-02-17
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Loan-out
11 May 2016 – 25 September 2016
2016-09-25
11 May 2016 – 25 September 2016
2016-09-25
2016-05-11
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2016-05-11
Painting with Light: Art and Photography from the Pre-Raphaelites to the modern age
Exhibition
14 December 2018 – 19 September 2021
2021-09-19
19 June 2019 – 6 October 2019
2019-10-06
2019-06-19
Palazzo Reale (Milan, Italy)
13 May 2021 – 19 September 2021
2021-09-19
2021-05-13
Hungarian National Gallery (Budapest, Hungary)
2018-12-14
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Tate partnerships & programmes
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/
21 October 2023 – 28 January 2024
2024-01-28
2023-10-21
Delaware Art Museum (Wilmington, USA)
2023-04-06
The Rossettis
Exhibition
1 October 2023 – 31 January 2024
2024-01-31
1 October 2023 – 31 January 2024
2024-01-31
2023-10-01
Delaware Art Museum (Wilmington, USA)
2023-10-01
Rossetti
Loan-out
Beata Beatrix
support: 864 × 660 mm
frame: 1214 × 1018 × 87 mm
Presented by Georgiana, Baroness Mount-Temple in memory of her husband, Francis, Baron Mount-Temple 1889
<p>Rossetti draws a parallel in this picture between the Italian poet Dante's despair at the death of his beloved Beatrice and his own grief at the death of his wife Elizabeth Siddal, who died on 11 February 1862.  Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) recounted the story of his unrequited love and subsequent mourning for Beatrice Portinari in the <i>Vita Nuova</i>. This was Rossetti's first English translation and appeared in 1864 as part of his own publication, <i>The Early Italian Poets</i>.

</p><p>The picture is a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portrait</span></a> of Elizabeth Siddall in the character of Beatrice. It has a hazy, transcendental quality, giving the sensation of a dream or vision, and is filled with symbolic references. Rossetti intended to represent her, not at the moment of death, but transformed by a 'sudden spiritual transfiguration' (Rossetti, in a letter of 1873, quoted in Wilson, p.86).  She is posed in an attitude of ecstasy, with her hands before her and her lips parted, as if she is about to receive Communion. According to Rossetti's friend F.G. Stephens, the grey and green of her dress signify 'the colours of hope and sorrow as well as of love and life' ('<i>Beata Beatrix </i>by Dante Gabriel Rossetti', <i>Portfolio</i>, vol.22, 1891, p.46).

</p><p>In the background of the picture the shadowy figure of Dante looks across at Love, portrayed as an angel and holding in her palm the flickering flame of Beatrice's life.  In the distance the Ponte Vecchio signifies the city of Florence, the setting for Dante's story.  Beatrice's impending death is evoked by the dove - symbol of the holy spirit - which descends towards her, an opium poppy in its beak.  This is also a reference to the death of Elizabeth Siddall, known affectionately by Rossetti as 'The Dove', and who took her own life with an overdose of laudanum.  Both the dove and the figure of Love are red, the colour of passion, yet Rossetti envisaged the bird as a messenger, not of love, but of death. Beatrice's death, which occurred at nine o'clock on 9<sup>th</sup> June 1290, is foreseen in the sundial which casts its shadow over the number nine. The picture frame, which was designed by Rossetti, has further references to death and mourning, including the date of Beatrice's death and a phrase from <i>Lamentations </i>1:1, quoted by Dante in the <i>Vita Nuova</i>: 'Quomodo sedet sola civitas' ('how doth the city sit solitary'), referring to the mourning of Beatrice's death throughout the city of Florence.

</p><p><b>Further reading:</b> <br/>Leslie Parris (ed.), <i>The Pre-Raphaelites</i>, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1984, reprinted 1994, p.209; reproduced p.208, in colour.<br/>Virginia Surtees, <i>The Paintings and Drawings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882): A Catalogue Raisonné</i><i></i><i></i>, 2 vols., Oxford 1971, pp.93-4, no.168, reproduced pl.238.<br/>Andrew Wilton and Robert Upstone (eds), <i>The Age of Rossetti, Burne-Jones &amp; Watts: Symbolism in Britain 1860-1910</i>, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1997, pp.154-7, no.44; reproduced p.154, in colour.

</p><p>Frances Fowle<br/>7 December 2000</p>
Summary
2005-09-15T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
<div class="text">
<p>Rossetti’s inspiration was Dante’s <i>La Vita Nuova </i>(‘The New Life’), which explores the Italian poet’s idealised love for Beatrice and her premature death. As an omen of death, a bird drops a white poppy between her open hands. In the background the ghostly Dante gazes towards the figure of Love. Rossetti viewed this as a memorial to his wife and the model for Beatrice, Elizabeth Siddall, who had died in 1862. Rossetti had buried the manuscripts of his unpublished poems including <i>On the Vita Nuova of Dante </i>with his wife but, in a macabre twist, retrieved and published them in 1870.</p>
</div>

Display caption
2016-11-15T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
adults animals: birds architecture Beatrice birth to death birth to death bridge bridges and viaducts characters cities, towns, villages (non-UK) countries and continents Dante Alighieri Dante, ‘La Vita Nuova’ death death - dove death - poppy diseases and conditions dove drug-induced state emotional states and conditions Florence, Ponte Vecchio Holy Spirit - dove individuals: female individuals: male Italy literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) love - angel love - flame man memorial mourning mysticism named individuals objects people places plants and flowers poppy portraits religion and belief religious scientific and measuring Siddal, Elizabeth Eleanor society suicide sundial symbols and personifications townscape, distant townscapes / man-made features trance transfiguration vision woman