The Stunners : The Private Lives of the Pre-Raphaelites

Lecture

Hunt – Awakening Conscience 1853-4

The Pre-Raphaelite painters were rebels both artistically and in their conduct which often shocked their Victorian contemporaries. Most indulged in romantic affairs with beautiful women whom Rossetti called ‘The Stunners’.

I examine the roles of Fanny Cornforth, Lizzie Siddall, Annie Miller, Janey Morris, Maria Zambaco, Alexa Wilding and Effie Ruskin in the private lives of the painters. I also show how these women were very modern in their attitudes and their dress and how the Pre-Raphaelite concept of beauty has endured.

Rossetti – Maria Zambaco 1870
Rossetti – Portrait of Elizabeth Siddal
Rossetti Venus_Verticordia 1867 PP