Marie Spartali Stillman

Marie Spartali was the eldest daughter [1] of Michael Spartali (1818–1914), a wealthy merchant, principal of the firm Spartali & Co and Greek consul-general based in London from 1866 to 1879. He had moved to London around 1828, where he married Euphrosyne (known as Effie, née Varsami; 1825–1913), the daughter of a Greek merchant from Genoa. [2]

The family split time between their home in Clapham Common (London) and their country home on the Isle of Wight. In the city, Spartali’s father was fond of lavish garden parties where he invited up and coming writers and artists. It was at one such event where Marie would first be introduced to the art world.[3]

In 1870, Spartali met American journalist and painter William J. Stillman. The couple had previously posed for Rossetti in his famous Dante pictures, though it is not certain if that is how they first met. Interestingly, despite being an artist himself, Marie never sat for her husband as a model. This is likely because it was not uncommon for artists to become infatuated with their muses only to lose interest years later, a pattern she no doubt witnessed within her circle many times. The pair married in 1871 against her father's wishes, causing a rift that would never fully heal. [4]

As a foreign correspondent for The Times, the couple divided their time between London and Florence (1878-1883), and later Rome (1889-1896). [4]

The couple had three children of their own and were raised alongside William’s other three children from a previous marriage.  William Stillman died in 1901. Marie Spartali died in March 1927 in Ashburn Place in South Kensington, four days shy of her 83rd birthday. Spartali Stillman was cremated at Brookwood Cemetery, near Woking, Surrey, and is interred there with her husband. The grave is marked by a simple lawn headstone.

Self-Portrait, 1871, Delaware Art Museum.

How the Virgin Came to Brother Conrad in Offia and Laid her Son in his Arms, 1892. Watercolour, gouache, and gold paint on paper.

Hypatia, Spartali as model. [5] Originally from the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Known for their Greek heritage and beauty, Spartali along with her cousins, Maria Zambaco and Aglaia Coronio, were known collectively among friends as "the Three Graces," after the Charites of Greek mythology (Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia). Beauty aside, Marie cut an imposing figure, standing at 1.9 meters (6ft 3) and, in her later years, dressed entirely in black, purposefully attracting much attention throughout her life. [6]

In the house of the Greek businessman A.C. Ionides at Tulse Hill, in south London, Marie first met artist James Abbot McNeil Whistler and playwright Algernon Charles Swinburne. The meeting made quite the impression, for Swinburne was reported to have said that "She is so beautiful that I want to sit down and cry". [6] [7]

In 1864, Whistler introduced Spartali to the Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rosetti.[8] She began sitting for him and when Spartali expressed interest in learning to paint he referred her to Ford Madox Brown. Over the next five years the pair developed a close, almost familial, relationship.[9] Of his models, Brown said that Spartali was “the most intellectual,” and maintained a deep respect for her work, chronicled in their correspondence. By 1870, Spartali had decided to pursue art professionally and with the help of her mentor made her first sale for 40 guineas. [9]

Example of modeling works: Brown; Burne-Jones (The Mill); Julia Margaret Cameron; Rossetti (A Vision of Fiammetta, Dante's Dream at the Time of the Death of Beatrice, The Bower Meadow); and Spencer Stanhope.

Because of her close links to the Brotherhood Spartali-Stillman is often identified as part of the second generation of the movement. According to Henry James, “She inherited the traditions and the temper of the original PRs...but she has come into her heritage by virtue or natural relationship. She is a spontaneous, sincere, naive Pre-Raphaelite.”[10]

There is, however, some academic debate as to whether this is entirely accurate. For example, Robert de la Sizeranne of Le Correspondant noted that this new generation of Pre-Raphaelites, Spartali-Stillman among them, had enough in common with the Symbolists to be considered one.[11] Marie Spartali Stillman, could be considered a candidate for Symbolism because her figures "... have an immobility, a silence, a pose almost suspended, a slow hesitation in their rare movements, which make them resemble something like sleepwalkers.” [10] [11] Rosetti himself credited Spartali for her ability to infuse her figures with emotion, thereby elevating them to something more than mere images. [10] [11]

Dante at Verona (1888)

In 1873 both her young daughter, Euphrosyne "Effie," and her sister Christina fell ill. Stillman wrote to Ford Madox Brown that she was preoccupied with their health and felt "too weak to paint." She later clarified that whenever she did work she found herself depicting her sister in a grim state. Because of this, she took some time off painting, however Madox-Brown always speculated that she stopped because of her husband's jealousy over her successful career and continued relationship with himself. [12]

Alongside her husband, Spartali-Stillman lived in Florence, Italy for a number of years. She took great inspiration from the city around her which can be seen most prominently in her subject matter. Being in the city of Dante Alighieri, she depicted numerous scenes from the Divine Comedy, focusing in particular on the romance between Dante and Beatrice. [12]

Though separated from her peers, Spartali-Stillman maintained her correspondence with the PRB and Rosetti in particular who shared her love of Dante. [13][12]

Farm Scene

First Meeting of Petrarch and Laura (Church of Santa Chiara at Avignon), 1889

The subjects of her paintings were typical of the Pre-Raphaelites: female figures; scenes from Shakespeare, Petrarch, Dante and Boccaccio; also Italian landscapes. She exhibited at the Dudley Gallery in 1875, then at the Grosvenor Gallery and its successor, the New Gallery; at the Royal Academy; and at various galleries in the eastern USA, including the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Stillman exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. A retrospective show of her work took place in the United States in 1982, and another one at the Delaware Art Museum in 2015. The latter show transferred to the UK, opening at the Watts Gallery at Compton, Surrey from March until 5 June 2016.

Fiammetta Singing, 1879