Maria Francesca Rossetti

English author and nun (1827–1876)

Maria Francesca Rossetti

Born| (1827-02-17)17 February 1827
London, England
Died| 24 November 1876(1876-11-24) (aged 49)
London, England
Occupation| Writer, nun
Notable works| The Shadow of Dante: Being an Essay Towards Studying Himself, His World and His Pilgrimage.
Parents|

* Gabriele Rossetti
* Frances Polidori

Relatives|

* Dante Gabriel Rossetti (brother)
* Christina Georgina Rossetti (sister)
* William Michael Rossetti (brother)
* Gaetano Polidori (maternal grandfather)
* John William Polidori (maternal uncle)

Maria Francesca Rossetti (17 February 1827 – 24 November 1876) was an English author and nun. She was the sister of artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Michael Rossetti, and of Christina Georgina Rossetti, who dedicated her 1862 poem Goblin Market to Maria.

## Literary and religious life

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She was the author of The Shadow of Dante: Being an essay towards studying himself, his world, and his pilgrimage (published 1871). She also acted as a governess during the years of family hardship brought on by her father's failing health, and tutored a young Lucy Madox Brown, a future sister-in-law.

At the age of 46, Maria joined the Society of All Saints, an Anglican order for women. Lucy Madox Brown wanted to paint her in her habit.[1] She made an English translation of the Monastic Diurnal for her order, The Day Hours and Other Offices as Used by the Sisters of All Saints, which was used by her order until 1922. She, along with her sister Christina, donated her time to the St. Mary Magdalene Home for Fallen Women in Highgate.[2] She unsuccessfully attempted to convert her agnostic brothers on her death bed.[3]

## Personal life

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Her siblings teased her about her plain appearance, nicknaming her 'Moony' for her rounded face.[4] Maria never married. She was a friend of John Ruskin, having visited his home at Denmark Hill, and at 28 she developed romantic feelings for him after his marriage was annulled.[5]

## Death

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Maria died of ovarian cancer in 1876, despite drawn-out treatments to try to drain the tumour.[6] She was buried in the convent plot at Brompton Cemetery.

## Works

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illustration by Dante Gabriel Rossetti for A Shadow of Dante

* Maria Francesca Rossetti, A Shadow of Dante: being an essay towards studying himself, his world and his pilgrimage, Rivingtons, London, 1871, ISBN 978-1108060769 edition Hathi Trust Digital Library
* Maria Francesca Rossetti, Exercises in idiomatic Italian through literal translation from the English, Williams and Norgate, London 1867, ISBN 978-1108073318 edition Internet Archive
* Maria Francesca Rossetti, Aneddoti italiani: Italian anecdotes, selected from Il compagno del passeggio Campestre, Williams and Norgate, London 1867, ISBN 978-1175408587 edition Internet Archive
* Maria Francesca Rossetti, Letters to My Bible Class on Thirty-nine Sundays, Nabu Press A, 2011, ISBN 978-1271589845
* Maria Francesca Rossetti, The rivulets; a dream not all a dream, A. Dod, London, 1846, OCLC 42216558
* Maria Francesca Rossetti, Dante's Pilgrimage Through Hell, Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005, ISBN 978-1425344696
* Maria Francesca Rossetti, Dante's Pilgrimage Through Purgatory, Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005, ISBN 978-1162905099
* Maria Francesca Rossetti, Dante's Pilgrimage Through Paradise, Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010, ISBN 978-1162905976
* Maria Francesca Rossetti, Dante's Life Experience, Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010, ISBN 978-1425344689

## See also

[edit]

* Rossetti–Polidori family tree

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Jan Marsh, Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, (London: Quartet, 1985), p. 313.
2. ^ Jan Marsh, Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, (London: Quartet, 1985), p. 185.
3. ^ Dinah Roe, The Rossettis in Wonderland. A Victorian Family History (London: Haus Publishing, 2011), pp. 292–293.
4. ^ Elkin, SusanRossetti, Maria Francesca (1827–1876), author and Anglican nun [1]
5. ^ Jan Marsh, Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, (London: Quartet, 1985), p. 114; Dinah Roe,The Rossettis in Wonderland. A Victorian Family History (London: Haus Publishing, 2011), pp. 166–168.
6. ^ Dinah Roe, The Rossettis in Wonderland. A Victorian Family History (London: Haus Publishing, 2011), pp. 289–292.

## Further reading

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* Susan Elkin, Rossetti, Maria Francesca (1827–1876), author and Anglican nun [2]
* Jan Marsh, Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, (London: Quartet, 1985)
* Dinah Roe, The Rossettis in Wonderland. A Victorian Family History (London: Haus Publishing, 2011), ISBN 978-1-907822-01-8

* v
* t
* e

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Paintings|

* List of paintings
* The Girlhood of Mary Virgin (1849)
* Ecce Ancilla Domini (1850)
* Paolo and Francesca da Rimini (1855)
* Bocca Baciata (1859)
* Joan of Arc Kissing the Sword of Deliverance (1863)
* The Beloved (1865–1866)
* Monna Vanna (1866)
* Monna Rosa (1867)
* Venus Verticordia (1864–1868)
* Pia de' Tolomei (c. 1868)
* Beata Beatrix (c. 1864–1870)
* Dante's Dream (1871)
* Water Willow (1871)
* Veronica Veronese (1872)
* Lady Lilith (1866–1873)
* La Ghirlandata (1873)
* Proserpine (1874)
* Roman Widow (1874)
* A Sea-Spell (1877)
* The Blessed Damozel (1875–1878)
* A Vision of Fiammetta (1880)
* The Day Dream (1880)
* Mnemosyne (1876–1881)
* Found (1854–1881)

Murals|

* Oxford Union murals (with other artists, 1857–1859)

Drawings|

* Ligeia Siren (1873)

Family|

* Elizabeth Siddal (wife)
* Frances Polidori (mother)
* Gabriele Rossetti (father)
* Maria Francesca Rossetti (sister)
* William Michael Rossetti (brother)
* Christina Rossetti (sister)
* Gaetano Polidori (grandfather)

Related|

* Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
* The Germ
* Hogarth Club
* Morris & Co.
* Tristram and Isoude stained glass panels
* Great Bookcase
* La Damoiselle élue (1893 cantata)
* Rossetti and His Circle (1922 book)
* Dante's Inferno (1967 film)
* The Love School (1975 miniseries)
* Desperate Romantics (2009 miniseries)

* Category

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* United States
* Netherlands
* Sweden
* Vatican
* Israel

Artists|

* ULAN

Other|

* IdRef
* SNAC

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