Lucy Madox Brown

Lucy Madox Brown Rossetti (19 July 1843 – 12 April 1894) was a British artist, author, and model associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. She was married to the writer and art critic William Michael Rossetti.

Early life Madox Brown was born in Paris in 1843, the daughter of Ford Madox Brown and Elizabeth Bromley (1819–1846). Her mother died just three years later in 1846, and she was sent to live with her aunt Helen Bromley in Gravesend, Kent. In 1856 she went to live with the Rossetti household in London and was tutored by her future sister-in-law, Maria Francesca Rossetti. She visited the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition in 1857. Her half-sister Catherine Madox Brown described her as "a strange mixture with a violent temper and a strong brain."

Marriage and family

In the summer of 1873 she became engaged to William Michael Rossetti, and they married on 31 March 1874. William was the son of Gabriele Rossetti and his wife Frances Polidori. His siblings were: Maria, Dante Gabriel and Christina. They honeymooned in France and Naples, Italy, in April 1874. They attempted to live with William's family but, due to religious differences with Frances and Christina, who were devout Anglo-Catholics, moved out to their own accommodation in Bloomsbury by the end of 1876.

Their first child, Olivia Frances Madox, was born in September 1875, and their son, Gabriel Arthur, was born in February 1877, followed by Helen Maria, in November 1879, and twins, Mary Elizabeth and Michael Ford, in April 1881. Michael died in infancy. Lucy and Wiliam, who both were agnostics, did not have their children baptized. The children were educated at home by their mother and governesses. Her painting, The Duet, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1870, was described by Dante Gabriel Rossetti as a "perfect picture".

Death From 1885 she suffered from consumption and went to Italy for her health during the winter. The illness worsened Lucy's temper and brought the permanent rift between her and William. Rossetti was deeply affected by Lucy's alienation: "This change in my relations of affection and home-life is about the most painful thing that could have occurred to me." She died on 12 April 1894 at the Hotel Victoria in Sanremo, Italy, in the presence of her husband and her daughter Olivia, and was buried in La Foce Cemetery.

List of works The Duet, 1870. Exh. RA. Romeo and Juliet, 1870, Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton, UK. Study for Romeo and Juliet, 28 x 33.6 cm, chalk on paper, sold Christie's, London, 28 November 2000, lot 26. The Tempest, c. 1870, oil on canvas, private collection. Après le Bal, 1870, watercolour, private collection. The Magic Mirror, 1872, private collection. Margaret Roper Receiving the Head of her Father 1873, oil on canvas, St Thomas More, Burford.

Work and portraits

Reproduction of Portrait by Dante Gabriel Rossetti at the Rossetti Archive. Portrait by Dante Gabriel Rossetti at Wightwick Manor, West Midlands.

Exhibitions 'Uncommon Power': Lucy and Catherine Madox Brown at the Watts Gallery 28 September 2021 – 20 February 2022.