Ellen Terry's Beetle Wing Dress

It's only moderately related to the Pre-Raphaelites, but I have to share a link to this incredible article (pointed out to me by a friend, Traci) about the restoration of actress Ellen Terry's gown for Macbeth, made out of thousands of beetle wings. It is the gown that features in Sargent's famous portrait of Terry, above.

Wordplay in Arts & Crafts

Just wanted to direct you to a post over on my blog for my new house, on the use of text in Arts and Crafts decorating.

Sarah as Persephone

Okay, as a HUGE fan of the movie Labyrinth, I have to share this piece of brilliance.

DeviantArt member Janey-Jane created this great image of Rossetti's Persephone, as Sarah from Labyrinth. I think she did an outstanding job of both making it a likeness of Jennifer Connelly, and also making it quite Rossetti.

I also love how she reinterpreted the pomegranate as a peach, changed the objects in the corner to an owl feather and crystal ball. And apparently the text at the top is the story Sarah starts to tell Toby before he's taken. ("Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby...what no one knew was the King of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl...")

Rock on, Janey-Jane.

Return of the Native

I just finished re-watching the 1994 Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, Return of the Native, starring a younger and breathtakingly beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones. I first saw this movie when I was 14 years old, and Catherine was one of my first experiences with being absolutely ensorcelled by the beauty of a woman. She is a true Faerie Queen in the film. I remember when I first taped it on VHS and paused the tape to sketch a drawing of her with her hood raised. I still have the artwork.

At one point in the film, there's a lovely vision of Eustacia (CZJ) walking by a riverside with flowers in her hand. The combination of blue gown, bridge, flowers, and river immediately struck me as familiar.


Coincidence? Probably. However, considering the similar fate the character of Eustacia experiences to that of Ophelia, I also would not be shocked to find out that it was an intentional homage or foreshadowing.

At any rate, it's a beautiful film full of romantic visuals that any lover of the Pre-Raphaelites would likely enjoy.