He, “for ever, kissed my mouth, all quivering”: Paolo and Francesca in Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic painting
Abstract
This article focuses on representations of Paolo and Francesca in Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic painting. In the context of the literary and scholarly revaluation of Dante in the 19th century, numerous painters tackled the theme of the embracing lovers. John Flaxman devised an iconographical model that circulated throughout the century: the lovers are staged in a theatrical composition, kissing chastely, watched by Gianciotto. There is none of the passion Francesca expresses in Canto v. This configuration was emulated by numerous painters, among them French painters, such as M.-P. Coupin de la Couperie and J.A.D. Ingres, and by British artists, like William Dyce. The lovers’ kiss becomes central, but female reserve is underlined. The Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti brought a turning-point with his highly sensual treatment of the mutually embracing couple. Several Aesthetic painters took up the theme but sentimentalized it, thus annulling the originally passionate dimension of the story.
Keywords
Paolo and Francesca, Romantic Painting, Pre-Raphaelite Painting and AestheticsReferences
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