women that projected an image of ethereal beauty and melded ap-
parent opposites—a Victorian prettiness with sensual allure. His
Beata Beatrix (FIG. 30-43) is ostensibly a portrait of a literary fig-
ure—Beatrice, from Dante’s Vita Nuova—as she overlooks Florence
in a trance after being mystically transported to Heaven. Yet the por-
trait also had personal resonance for Rossetti. It served as a memor-
ial to his wife, Elizabeth Siddal (the model for Millais’s Ophelia),
who had died shortly before Rossetti began this painting in 1862. In
the image, the woman (Siddal-Beatrice) sits in a trancelike state,
while a red dove (a messenger of both love and death) deposits a
poppy (symbolic of sleep and death) in her hands. Because Siddal
died of an opium overdose, the presence of the poppy assumes
greater significance.Architecture
As 19th-century scholars gathered the documentary materials of Eu-
ropean history in extensive historiographic enterprises, each nation
came to value its past as evidence of the validity of its ambitions and
claims to greatness. Intellectuals appreciated the art of the remote
past as a product of cultural and national genius. Italy, of course, had
its Roman ruins, which had long inspired later architects. In France,
Napoleon had co-opted the classical tradition, but even at the height
of his power a reawakening of interest in Gothic architecture also
surfaced. In 1802 the eminent French writer François-René de
Chateaubriand (1768–1848) published his influential Genius of
Christianity,which defended religion on the grounds of its beauty
and mystery rather than on the grounds of truth. Gothic cathedrals,
according to Chateaubriand, were translations of the sacred groves
of the ancient Gauls into stone and should be cherished as manifes-
tations of France’s holy history. One result of this new nationalistic
respect for the Gothic style was that Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-
Duc (1814–1879) received a commission in 1845 to restore the inte-30-43Dante Gabriel Rossetti,Beata Beatrix,ca. 1863. Oil on
canvas, 2 10 2 2 . Tate Gallery, London.
This painting of a beautiful and sensuous woman is ostensibly a literary
portrait of Dante’s Beatrice, but the work also served as a memorial to
Rossetti’s wife, who died of an opium overdose.30-44Charles Barry and A.W.N. Pugin,Houses of Parliament, London, England, designed 1835.
The 19th century brought the revival of many architectural styles, often reflecting nationalistic pride. The Houses of Parliament have an exterior
veneer and towers that recall late English Gothic style.810 Chapter 30 EUROPE AND AMERICA, 1800 TO 18701 ft.
30-44ASCHINKEL,
Altes Museum,
Berlin,
1822–1830.