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Frances Mary Lavinia Rossetti (née Polidori) (1800-1886), Mother of Dante Gabriel, William Michael and Christina Rossetti
Sitter in 5 portraits
She is noted for her family connections more than in her own right. The daughter of Italian exile Gaetano Polidori and sister of John Polidori, Lord Byron's physician, she married the Italian exile Gabriele Rossetti in London. Her two sons, Gabriel Charles Dante (later known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti) and William Michael were among the co-founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Frances sat for Gabriel for some of his early paintings. Her youngest child, Christina Georgina, became famous as a poet and is probably best known as the author of the poem Goblin Market.
by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)
albumen print, 7 October 1863
by Dante Gabriel Rossetti