Six Rossetti "Medieval" Paintings, Glamour Life

Title

Six Rossetti "Medieval" Paintings, Glamour Life


Description

As a Pre-Raphaelite, Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an advocate of what he considered the purer, more symbolic art of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. And like many other romantics, he often chose medieval and classical subjects to express his ideals about what life should be. Many folks today, including myself, still choose to romanticize and mythologize the medieval period, perhaps to gain relief from and a perspective of our contemporary world. For such people - and their Sims - this is a collection of large format medieval artwork in the romantic style, such as one might find in a great hall, quiet chapel, or sumptuous chamber of the imagination. We will leave the dirty, drafty, smoky and smelly reality for another game! These Glamour Life SimNoir framed posters cost §3000 and have an Environment value of 10.

"Dantis Amor" (1860) - meaning "Dante's Love" - is a fine example of the rich archaic symbolism the Pre-Raphaelites sought to achieve. In this unfinished but glorious painting, Rossetti depicts a dialogue of Love in a form that his lifelong hero Dante Alighieri of the fourteenth century might have been quite comfortable with. Love stands in the centre, holding what was intended to be a brilliant golden sundial. In the upper left, Jesus, as the sun, radiates with descending golden rays that seem to form a heraldic flag. In the bottom right, Dante's muse Beatrice and the moon reflect this light, surrounded by a field of stars.


"Sir Galahad at the Ruined Chapel" was painted to illustrate the poem "Sir Galahad" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.


In "Giotto Painting the Portrait of Dante", Dante Alighieri is located in the middle, in the red cap. His friend Cavalcanti, a fellow poet, stands at the left with a book of verse. Dante looks down to the street in the lower right corner, where Beatrice passes as she reads a book.


"The Return of Tibullus to Delia" is in memory of a Roman poet and his lover, Delia, who lived in the time of Augustus.

"The Tune of Seven Towers" (1857) references a Turkish castle in Constantinople, the subject of tales of chivalry and the crusades, linked here.

To round out this collection we return again to the life of Dante Alighieri, as told in his New Life (La Vita Nuova), "Beatrice Meeting Dante at a Marriage (Wedding) Feast, Denies Him Her Salutation", shown here.

These images are all in the public domain, and sourced from either The Athenaeum, the Art Renewal Center or the Walker Art Gallery. Each was reduced in size from the originals without dimensional distortion, and with matting used to fill out the aspect ratio where necessary. I used SimPE to set reflectivity to zero so as to maximize clarity. You may include these recolours in any uploaded lots, whether for free or pay - but it would be nice if you included a credit in the description and sent me a PM. Apart from using them in lots, I would prefer that you not upload this collection or portions of it elsewhere, if only because such duplication can cause confusion.


Additional Credits

SimPE 6.0, which makes it all possible
Microsoft Photo Editor, for adjusting contrast, brightness and size
For the screen captures, some use was made of the ceiling tiles by jgwhiteus and Inge Jones, or one of the several recolours of these
Attribute Change 5.30 is very useful for adjusting a file's date and timestamp, used to put the recolours together in consecutive order, with the most recent recolour being the one furthest to the left. Thus the paintings are arranged in alphabetical order within the catalogue popup display from right to left.