Christina Rossetti was the English-born daughter of Italian parents. Her brother, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which had a profound effect on late nineteenth century art in Great Britain.
Her first poem was published in The Germ, a Pre-Raphaelite publication, edited by her brother William. She also sat frequently as a model for Pre-Raphaelite paintings.
Christina Rossetti is known particularly for her verse ballads and religious poetry, often considered too intense, mystical or even vulgar for Victorian society to stomach. The simplicity of her images and the vivid, natural detail she brought to religious subjects recalls a medieval style greatly admired by the Pre-Raphaelite movement.
