La Pia de' Tolomei

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Oil on canvas

Spencer Museum of Art

This luminous Pre-Raphaelite masterpiece depicts La Pia de' Tolomei, a tragic noblewoman from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy who was imprisoned by her husband in a castle amid the malaria-infested marshes of Maremma, Italy. Rossetti renders her in sumptuous detail — seated against an ivy-draped wall, absentmindedly toying with her wedding ring — surrounded by rich symbols of captivity and longing: black ravens, a sundial marking slow-passing time, discarded love letters, and a prayer book. The model was Jane Burden Morris, wife of Rossetti's close friend William Morris, with whom Rossetti was conducting a passionate secret affair, making the subject of a wife imprisoned by her husband deeply and painfully personal. As a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Rossetti combined jewel-like color, literary depth, and an almost hypnotic sensuality to create a work that resonates equally as a meditation on love, loss, and longing — making it a deeply evocative and conversation-starting centerpiece for any home.