Mrs. William Morris

Mrs. William Morris (1868) at Kelmscott Manor is among the most charged of all Rossetti's portraits — an image of the woman who was simultaneously his most important model, the wife of his close friend and collaborator William Morris, and the center of his most sustained emotional obsession. Kelmscott Manor itself holds this work as part of a collection associated directly with the people depicted in it, giving it extraordinary resonance. Made in 1868, already deep in Rossetti's preoccupation with Jane Morris, the portrait observes her features with an intensity that goes beyond professional attention. Her distinctive physical characteristics — the long neck, heavy dark hair, large grey-green eyes, and full lips — are documented here with the fullness of prolonged intimate knowledge.

Rossetti works here with the careful tonal control of his best portraits, building Jane Morris's features through warm and cool flesh modeling over a carefully prepared canvas. The dark hair against the lighter background creates the strong value contrast that centers the composition on her face.