Lizzie Siddal: The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite Supermodel

Before the modern supermodel, there was Lizzie Siddal, whose image captivated a generation–and whose life ended tragically in a laudanum-soaked suicide. Saved from the drudgery of a working-class existence by Dante Rossetti, the young Pre-Raphaelite poet and painter who became her lover, Lizzie Siddal was one of the most famous faces in Victorian Britain and a pivotal figure in London's artistic scene. Today, even those who do not know her name recognize her as Millais's doomed Ophelia and Rossetti's beatified Beatrice. Exploring the many parallels to our contemporary worlds of art and fashion, Lucinda Hawksley looks behind the celebrated muse to reveal a talented poet and artist in her own right.