Elizabeth Siddal died in 1862 at the age of 33.

Elizabeth Siddal is best known as the model for John Everett Millais's 1851-52 painting *Ophelia*. Millais found an antique wedding dress for Siddal to wear in the bathtub, which added shape and drama. William Rossetti said the finished painting looked more like Siddal than any other picture. *Ophelia* appears to have died recently; her skin is losing its bloom, and her eyes seem to have only just relinquished their vision. The painting regularly attracts large crowds at London’s Tate Britain. It is an apt image for a woman whose life ended sadly, similarly to Shakespeare’s heroine. Around this time, Siddal was in mourning after her eldest brother Charles's unexpected death. She sat for Holman Hunt again, suppressing her dislike of him. Both she and Christina Rossetti were models for the face of Jesus in *The Light of the World*. Hunt chose Siddal’s red hair to frame Christ’s face.

Elizabeth Siddal, although better known as a model and painter, did not produce a significant body of prints during her short career. Information about Pre-Raphaelite prints often focuses on the reproductive engravings made after paintings by better-known members of the circle, such as Rossetti, Millais, and Holman Hunt. The Pre-Raphaelites used printmaking to broaden their audience and disseminate their ideas. Original etchings, book illustrations, and reproductive engravings allowed them to reach a wider public, at a fraction of the cost of an original painting. Demand for reproductions grew as paintings attracted attention in galleries. The Pre-Raphaelites actively promoted and exploited this commercial opportunity. Rossetti, whom Siddal married in 1860, two years before her death, made numerous drawings and planned paintings of her. After Rossetti's painting *Beata Beatrix* became his memorial to her, Fred Miller created a mezzotint engraving of it. Only 100 prints on Japan were produced in 1881 before the plate was destroyed.

Elizabeth Siddal is associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement. This group of artists, including William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, aimed to reform art by rejecting what they considered the artificiality of the art produced after the Renaissance, particularly that of Raphael. The Pre-Raphaelites sought inspiration from medieval art and culture. This interest was fueled by a larger Victorian fascination with the medieval period, seen in the Gothic Revival architecture championed by Augustus Pugin. The movement also drew on the writings of John Ruskin, who stressed the importance of truth to nature and a moral aesthetic inspired by the Gothic. Although primarily painters, the Pre-Raphaelites also used graphic arts to promote their ideas and gain public acceptance. Initially met with criticism, the Pre-Raphaelite style gained popularity through printed images of their works. These images often depicted women in flowing medieval gowns. Siddal herself was known for wearing unstructured dresses, which influenced the Pre-Raphaelite style.

Elizabeth Siddal was a painter, draughtswoman, and poet. Although best known as a model for Pre-Raphaelite painters, such as Millais's *Ophelia*, she produced her own art. Siddal's early drawings are often in pencil or chalk. Later, she worked in watercolour, frequently depicting Arthurian or medieval subjects. Her style was influenced by Rossetti, with whom she had a close relationship. She also wrote poetry; her poems often explore themes of loss and longing. While information on the precise materials she used is limited, it is known that Millais used white porcelain tablets as palettes to keep his colours bright and clear. It is reasonable to assume Siddal, working within the same artistic circle, would share some of these practices.

Elizabeth Siddal (1829-1862) was an artist, poet, and model associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Although she came from a lower social class than others in the Pre-Raphaelite circle, she had an image of herself as socially superior. She is known both for her own artistic output and for her role as a muse. Siddal modelled extensively for Walter Deverell, William Holman Hunt, and, most famously, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who became her husband in 1860. Rossetti initially sought to "improve" Siddal, even persuading her to spell her surname "Siddal" rather than "Siddall" because he thought it looked more genteel. Siddal's paintings and drawings often feature themes of love, loss, and medieval subjects. Examples include "Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail" and "Sister Helen". She also wrote poetry; a collection of her poems and drawings was published in 1978. In addition, Siddal was known for her individual style of dress, favouring unstructured gowns, without corsets, in a medieval style.

Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal (later changed to Siddal) was born on 25 July 1829 in London. The Siddall family had moved from Sheffield to the borough of Holborn before her birth. Her father, Charles, was involved in a protracted legal dispute to claim ownership of Hope Hall, a property associated with his family; the costs of this case placed considerable strain on the family's finances. Siddal worked as a shop assistant and model in a hat shop in Cranbourne Street. Around 1850, she became associated with Dante Gabriel Rossetti; they married in 1860. Rossetti told Ford Madox Brown that he felt his destiny was defined when he first saw her. She also pursued her own artistic career. Elizabeth Siddal died in 1862.

Elizabeth Siddal's work appeared in the Pre-Raphaelite Exhibition of 1857, held in Fitzroy Square, London. Several of her paintings were included, such as *Clerk Saunders*, *We Are Seven*, and *The Haunted Tree*, alongside illustrations of poems by Tennyson and Browning. Siddal was the only female exhibitor, among painters like Rossetti, Madox Brown, Arthur Hughes, John Brett, Charles Collins, Millais, and Holman Hunt. Rossetti promoted her work to patrons; *Clerk Saunders* was purchased by an American collector, Charles Eliot Norton. John Ruskin bought all of Siddal's designs at one point, paying £30 for them, and had them mounted and bound in gold. Siddal is also widely known as a Pre-Raphaelite model. The Tate Britain in London holds Millais's *Ophelia*, a painting for which Siddal posed. William Rossetti considered this likeness truer to Siddal than other portraits. She also modelled for Holman Hunt; her red hair was used for the face of Jesus in *The Light of the World*.

Elizabeth Eleanor Siddall, often known as Lizzie Siddal, was born in London on 25 July 1829. Her parents, Charles Siddall and Elizabeth Eleanor Evans, had moved to London some time before her birth. The family resided in the borough of Holborn, at 7 Charles Street, Hatton Garden. Although Siddall was born in London, her family had roots elsewhere. Her mother was of Welsh extraction, and her father came from Sheffield, where he worked as a cutler. The family lived in London for a time after their marriage in 1824, then returned to Sheffield for a period before moving back to London by 1828. Charles Siddall was proud of his heritage. He spent a significant portion of his life and money attempting to claim ownership of Hope Hall, also known as Crossdaggers, a family business in Derbyshire. The property had been a coaching inn with farmland. The Siddall family's connections to Derbyshire and Sheffield, however, did not alter the fact that Elizabeth Siddall was born and raised in London.

Elizabeth Siddal's influence can be seen in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's art. Rossetti completed his watercolour Paolo and Francesca da Rimini (now at the Tate Gallery) in 1855 under her influence. The painting shows Francesca and Paolo, her lover, in the first section; Dante and Virgil appear in the centre. John Ruskin purchased the watercolour drawing. Rossetti painted it in a week, then travelled to Paris to see Siddal; the picture reflected his romantic mood at the time. Felix Jasinski etched it for a small edition of 175 proofs, published in 1903. Siddal's drawing of Rossetti was reproduced in The Hobby Horse of the Century Guild in 1896. After Siddal's death in 1862, Rossetti's portraits of women, with their flat pictorial spaces and saturated colour, also influenced the Symbolists.

Elizabeth Siddal was associated with many members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; her husband, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was a painter, illustrator, poet, and translator. Other Pre-Raphaelite artists included William Holman Hunt and Frederic George Stephens. John Ruskin, an art critic and patron of the Pre-Raphaelites, also influenced Siddal. Siddal's family also influenced her. Rossetti persuaded her to adopt the spelling 'Siddal' rather than 'Siddall', believing it to be more genteel; this change influenced her father, Charles Siddall, who briefly used the new spelling in 1851. Her sisters included Annie, Clara, Lydia, and Mary. Her brothers were Charles, James, Henry, and Thomas. Siddal also drew influence from literature, including the works of William Shakespeare and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal (1829-1862) was an English artist, poet, and artists' model. She is associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Siddal began modelling in the 1850s. She worked for Walter Deverell, William Holman Hunt, and John Everett Millais. Millais's painting *Ophelia* (1851-1852) features Siddal submerged in a bathtub to model the drowning Ophelia. This exposure to cold water caused her to become ill. Siddal then became the protégé, model, and wife of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. She began studying with Rossetti, and produced drawings, paintings, and poetry. Her drawings are often medievalising in style, similar to Rossetti's early work. Only a few paintings by Siddal are known, such as *Lady Affixing Pennant to a Knight's Spear* (circa 1856). Siddal and Rossetti's relationship was troubled by his infidelities and her poor health, as she suffered from depression and opium addiction. She died in 1862 from an overdose of laudanum.