Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a painter, poet, illustrator, and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Rossetti was born in London in 1828. His father, an Italian political refugee, was a poet, Dante scholar and Professor of Italian at King’s College, London. Rossetti’s family upbringing likely had a profound effect on the artist and his siblings, as they all became poets, artists, and critics.

Many of his works, such as Proserpine (1874)  were accompanied by sonnets that added a narrative quality to the portraits.

Rossetti's art was characterised by its sensuality and its medieval revivalism.