Christina Rossetti, “In An Artist’s Studio”

Mermin & Tucker, Victorian Literature, pg 845

“Not as she is, but was when hope shone bright;
Not as she is, but as she fills his dream.” (13–14)

“In an Artist’s Studio” is Christina Rossetti’s commentary on her brother’s relationship with one woman, portrayed in all his art. One “selfsame figure” is painted in increasingly lofty positions — first as a queen, then a saint, then an angel. Ultimately, this poem is about control. The woman, like in “My Last Duchess” has no control over how or what she is portrayed by the painter himself. This is analogous to the idealized female in Victorian society, that of unending patience, passivity and selflessness. Along with coverture, women were all but controlled by men, represented by the painter in this poem. The final lines, quoted above, make this blantantly obvious. The woman is not portrayed as she actually is, but rather as the painter wishes or remembers her to be. Imagining and re-imagining the woman he paints, the artist “feeds” upon her image, representative of the common male desire to control and possess women as objects of aesthetic value.

Mottez, Victor. The Artist’s Studio. N.d. Painting-Here. Web.