"Of all the notable figures from the world of Victorian art and literature, Dante Gabriel Rossetti is one of the most complex," maintained Jan Marsh in Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Painter and Poet. Marsh noted the dualities inherent in the man: his "Anglo-Italian identity," his fame as both painter and poet, and his escape into a medieval past while leading an avant-garde art movement known as the Pre-Raphaelites. "His paintings and poetry, fluctuating in popularity and critical esteem, arouse comparably opposing emotions," March continued. Rossetti created, almost single-handedly, the taste for lithe, long-necked beauties in his paintings of his sister, Christina, and other women, including his wife. These "iconic images of loose-haired sirens," as Marsh described the paintings, can be seen in museums and in advertising; his best known paintings include "Beata Beatrix" and "Monna Vanna." An innovative writer, Rossetti's most famous poems are "The Blessed Damozel," "Sister Helen," and the sonnet sequence "The House of Life." His paintings and his poetry deal with themes of love and lost time and are characterized by his mysticism, vivid attention to detail, and rich imagination.
