Maria Francesca Rossetti (17 February 1827 – 24 November 1876) was an English author and nun. She was the sister of artist

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...

and

William Michael Rossetti William Michael Rossetti (25 September 1829 – 5 February 1919) was an English writer and critic. Early life Born in London, Rossetti was a son of exiled Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti and his wife Frances Polidori, Frances Rossetti '' ...

, and of Christina Georgina Rossetti, who dedicated her 1862 poem ''

Goblin Market ''Goblin Market'' is an 1862 Narrative poetry, narrative poem by Christina Rossetti. It tells the story of sisters Laura and Lizzie, who are tempted with fruit by goblin merchants. In a letter to her publisher, Rossetti claimed that the poem, w ...

'' to Maria.

Literary and religious life

She was the author of ''The Shadow of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

: Being an essay towards studying himself, his world, and his pilgrimage'' (published 1871). She also acted as a governess during the years of family hardship brought on by her father's failing health, and tutored a young Lucy Madox Brown, a future sister-in-law. At the age of 46, Maria joined the Society of All Saints, an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

order for women. Lucy Madox Brown wanted to paint her in her habit. She made an English translation of the Monastic Diurnal for her order, ''The Day Hours and Other Offices as Used by the Sisters of All Saints'', which was used by her order until 1922. She, along with her sister Christina, donated her time to the St.

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

Home for Fallen Women in

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

. She unsuccessfully attempted to convert her agnostic brothers on her death bed.

Personal life

Her siblings teased her about her plain appearance, nicknaming her 'Moony' for her rounded face. Maria never married. She was a friend of

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

, having visited his home at

Denmark Hill Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark, London, England. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of ...

, and at 28 she developed romantic feelings for him after his marriage was annulled.

Death

Maria died of ovarian cancer in 1876, despite drawn-out treatments to try to drain the tumour.Dinah Roe, ''The Rossettis in Wonderland. A Victorian Family History'' (London: Haus Publishing, 2011), pp. 289–292. She was buried in the convent plot at

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

Works

*Maria Francesca Rossetti, ''A Shadow of Dante: being an essay towards studying himself, his world and his pilgrimage'', Rivingtons, London, 1871,
edition Hathi Trust Digital Library
*Maria Francesca Rossetti, ''Exercises in idiomatic Italian through literal translation from the English'', Williams and Norgate, London 1867,
edition Internet Archive
*Maria Francesca Rossetti, Aneddoti italiani: Italian anecdotes, selected from ''Il compagno del passeggio Campestre'', Williams and Norgate, London 1867,
edition Internet Archive
*Maria Francesca Rossetti, ''Letters to My Bible Class on Thirty-nine Sundays'', Nabu Press A, 2011, *Maria Francesca Rossetti, ''The rivulets; a dream not all a dream'', A. Dod, London, 1846, OCLC 42216558 *Maria Francesca Rossetti, ''Dante's Pilgrimage Through Hell'', Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005, *Maria Francesca Rossetti, ''Dante's Pilgrimage Through Purgatory'', Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005, *Maria Francesca Rossetti, ''Dante's Pilgrimage Through Paradise'', Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010, *Maria Francesca Rossetti, ''Dante's Life Experience'', Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010,

Literary and religious life

Personal life

Death

Works

See also

References

Further reading