The Tragic Life, death and exhumation of Elizabeth Siddal

The Tragic Life, death and exhumation of Elizabeth Siddal

Regardless of whether you know her name, the likelihood is you’ve come across Elizabeth Siddal’s face at some point in time. Born in 1829 as one of 8 children, she had an average start in life, not wealthy, but not on the breadline either. By 1849, she found herself working in a millinery. Although making hats sounds like a relatively easy life, it wasn’t, the hours were long and the conditions rather unpleasant - given Elizabeth’s already delicate heath, her family were beginning to worry about her general wellbeing. 

This concern is believed to be the reason why her mother permitted her to begin work as an artist’s model – a rather disreputable profession at the time, synonymous with prostitution. Shortly after her foray into sitting still for long periods of time, she was spotted by the artist Howell Deverell. 

Stunned by her beauty, Howell wussed out of asking Elizabeth’s mother for permission to draw her daughter, instead sending his own mother to ask her instead. Turns out, Howell’s mother was incredibly boujee, so when she rocked up at Elizabeth’s house in one hell of a fancy carriage, her mother was swiftly convinced. 

 Permission granted, Howell went racing back to his mates who were all artists and writers in the relatively new Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood declaring “You fellows can’t tell what a stupendously beautiful creature I have found… She’s like a queen, magnificently tall.” 

Upon meeting her, the rest of the Brotherhood swiftly fell for her immaculate complexion and flowing red hair. She soon began popping up in now classic works, like Howell’s Twelfth Night, and in 1850 she first modelled for Dante Rossetti – who would be completely captivated by her beauty. For the time, Elizabeth was not what was generally considered ‘beautiful’ – being very thin was not considered sexually attractive, and one female journalist at the time even commented that having red hair was “social suiсidэ”. 

This however didn’t make a blind bit of difference to the Pre-Raphaelites, who couldn’t get enough of her. 

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