The loving cup

The son of Italian migrants to London, Dante Gabriel Rossetti exhibited artistic ability from an early age, although he found traditional teaching methods, such as those of the Royal Academy School, to be tedious and limiting his creativity. In 1848 he and his close friends, William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. While this group only formally existed for a short time (the brotherhood disbanded in 1852), it influenced a larger cohort of artists and artisans striving for a return to a seemingly purer aesthetic.

The loving cup is one of three known watercolour versions Rossetti created of

a larger oil on a panel (National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo) and is thought to feature one of his favourite models – Alexa Wilding. Inspired by Arthurian chivalry, Rossetti has inscribed his work ‘Douce nuit et joyeux jour/O’chevalier de bel amour’, loosely translating to ‘sweet nights and joyous days/to the knight of noble love’. Not only has Rossetti painted a medieval scene, but the technique and style replicate the historical works he so greatly admired – a flattened perspective and an intricately decorated surface, displaying a richness of pattern, texture and colour.

Tansy Curtin, Curator, International Art pre-1980