La Donna della Finestra 1879

Editor: Rossetti’s "La Donna della Finestra," housed at Harvard Art Museums, is strikingly tactile. Her dress looks almost liquid. What can you tell me about the materials and process used here? Curator: Rossetti, steeped in Pre-Raphaelite ideals, meticulously rendered textures—the dress, the hair, the flowers. Consider the pigments available at that time and his patronage. How did Victorian society's demand for detail shape artistic production? Editor: So, the painting's realism wasn't just aesthetic, but tied to the economics and material conditions of art-making? Curator: Precisely. The Pre-Raphaelites sought to elevate craft. Rossetti's choices—canvas, paints, even the model's attire—reflect a conscious engagement with material culture and its social implications. What is the impact? Editor: I hadn’t thought about it that way. Thanks, I'll definitely look at the Pre-Raphaelites differently now! Curator: My pleasure. The materials speak volumes.