#elizabeth elinor siddal

two versions of elizabeth siddal. her self portrait, completed in between 1853 and 1854, is one of her only serious undertakings in oil to have survived to the present. her gaze is direct, her mouth tight- a portrait which bears the painter’s own understanding of their appearance. this is in contrast to the watercolour by her husband, dante gabriel rossetti, also painted around 1854, which shows a more genteel version of siddal with downcast eyes and delicately folded hands. 

one of the only surviving photographs of elizabeth siddal, circa 1860.

study for the head of ophelia by john everett millais (1852), alongside the completed version. the model is elizabeth siddal, aged twenty. during her sitting for ophelia, the oil lamps which heated the bathtub in which siddal was floating for the piece went out; the water went cold- millais’ studio was in a basement, and it was the winter of 1851/1852- but siddal did not disturb the artist. she eventually contracted pneumonia, but recovered and became an artist in her own right. it is unsubstantiated whether the health issues that shaped much of her life were directly related to the ophelia incident.

a lock of elizabeth siddal’s hair, housed at the university of delware. 11 february marks the anniversary of her death.

“flying angels”, sketch by elizabeth siddal, date unknown