Floral Nouveau

L- William Morris, Jane Morris, Dante Rossetti, Portrait of Jane.

   Today's outfit is a little homage to Mr. William Morris, dear Topsy as his friends called him.  His story is perhaps one of the saddest of the Pre-Raphelite movement.  Smitten, he married Jane Morris who ultimately had an affair with William's friend and mentor the notedly narcissistic, womanizing poet and painter Dante Rossetti.  Although Rossetti had already been married and widowed by this point and his numerous infidelities were thought by many to be the cause of his wife and former model, Lizzie Siddal's overdose of laudanum, still the young Jane was rather overcome by her attraction to him.  Upon learning of the affair, William was heartbroken, but rather than shame his wife or friend, he allowed Rossetti and Jane to move in to a home together while he went off to travel and continue his work.  The pair remained lovers until Rossetti's death in 1882. While a broken heart plagued what would have otherwise been a happy and prosperous life, William continued on in the work which he believe in and it is this work that remains today as incomparable as it was then and has well outlived the sadness he faced.  It's a lesson for all of us, I suppose, that in the face of obstacles and even devastation there is still beauty created and we can be the authors of it.