#william michael rossetti

fanny cornforth, pre-raphaelite model and dante gabriel rossetti’s housekeeper until his death, died on 24 february 1909. she is pictured here as the sitter for rossetti’s fair rosamund (1861) and photographed in 1863. cornforth is often the subject of scholarly bias, owing in part to her status as rossetti’s longtime mistress and in part to her figure, which was fuller and more lush than the traditional sylph-like femininity typically associated with pre-raphaelite women. moreover, cornforth was working class, working as a servant from at least 1851: william michael rossetti wrote that “she had no charm of breeding, education, or intellect”. however, cornforth appeared in many of rossetti’s most famous works, including bocca baciata, and was the first person to open a dedicated museum to rossetti’s work after his death.