Dante Gabriel Rossetti - The Boat of Love

An illustration of Dante's second sonnet, addressed to Guido Cavalcanti and Lapo degli Ubenti. The picture was commissioned by William Graham in 1873 (in the same year Frederick Leyland comissioned another version on a larger scale, but this does not appear to have been begun). The painting was begun in 1874 but was abandoned in 1881 because of a disagreement with Graham over terms. Thereafter it remained in the artist's studio until his death, when it was purchased for the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.