Astarte Syriaca
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1877
For now, just to look at
The photograph we have of this work is not sharp enough to print at the quality we want, so we are not selling it for now. We are looking for a better one.
About the work
- Artist
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti
- Date
- 1877
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Collection
- Manchester Art Gallery
- Reference
- XDV-0914
What the museum label doesn't tell you
Look at her: she isn't asking for your attention, she already owns it. Astarte doesn't blink, and behind her two nearly identical figures echo her own raised-arm gesture, as if the painting were staring at its own reflection. That doubling isn't accidental: Rossetti restarted this composition twice before landing on what he called 'my best work', and the pose itself was borrowed from another canvas of his, Mnemosyne. Same face, same gesture, repeated until it finally stuck. How many attempts does it take for an obsession to become a masterpiece?
