Blanzifiore (Snowdrops) 1880

Dante Gabriel Rossetti painted Blanzifiore, or Snowdrops, sometime in the latter half of the 19th century. Rossetti, located at the heart of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, was deeply influenced by medieval and early Renaissance art, and the symbolic and romantic themes they evoked. The artwork shows a woman with red hair holding snowdrops. Here we see Rossetti's characteristic representation of idealized beauty that often characterized Pre-Raphaelite art, yet it also reflects Victorian society's complex relationship with women. On one hand there was an aesthetic worship of beauty, and on the other, social restrictions that confined women to limited roles. The title "Blanzifiore" and the snowdrops are a direct link to literature. Snowdrops signify purity and innocence, and in mythology have been used as a symbol of hope and the end of winter. Rossetti’s work asks us to consider the tensions between external beauty and internal experience, societal expectations and the complex emotions of the individual.