Fred Sawyer wrote:
>
> Rosetti's Beata Beatrix is the print that hangs over my desk at work. It
> draws many comments.
>
> The sundial does play a prominent role in the work - not only visually but
> also symbolically. If you look closely at the numbers you'll see that they
> are not arranged correctly. They are twisted around so that the shadow
> falls on 9 - which has something to do with the time Elizabeth actually
> died. If I recall correctly (since I'm not at work right now), the 9 is
> where noon should be. Commentators on the work have also suggested that
> the gnomon is supposed to have some phallic symbolism - directed at
> Elizabeth of course.
Fred,
I'm not sure NASS officals should be publicly advertising their
displays of
phallic Art! :) I wasn't aware of the offset hours on the dial. The alignment
of the
gnomon is oriented towards the (first) image of Elizabeth, in her transcendent
glow,
seen in the background. This presumably being the source of the cast shadow.
Camille
Pagila On Pre-Raphaelite Art, http://rosin.ubb.uib.no/users/bubsy/astro.htm ,
brings
us a final word on the piece below. An android Hermaphrodite and phallic
gnomon? You
decide.
"Take Beata Beatrix (1863), where dead Elizabeth Siddal, a clairvoyant
Beatrice, prays to the divinized version of herself with closed eyes. She is
like
Shelley's android Hermaphrodite,"
Regards,
Luke
