Vernon Lushington Thomas Hughes, and Richard Buckley Litchfield, became a unifying force at the College. He was a friend to artists, authors and activists, particularly those of The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the Arts and Crafts Movement who gravitated to the Working Men's College. In 1856, it was he who first introduced Edward Burne-Jones to Dante Gabriel Rossetti in his college rooms. Rossetti used Lushington’s wife, Jane, as a model in 1865. Lushington, friend of William Morris, was a frequent visitor to Kelmscott Manor. He was a close friend of Leslie Stephen and his family; Stephen’s daughter Virginia (later Woolf) based her character
The Beloved (Rossetti painting) The Beloved (Rossetti painting) The Beloved (also The Bride) is an oil painting on canvas by English artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, first painted in 1865 and currently housed at Tate Britain. This painting illustrates the Song of Solomon. Two passages from the Song of Solomon are inscribed on the picture's gilded frame: "My beloved is mine and I am his" (2:16)and"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine" (1:2) The bride, caught in the action of moving back her veil, is attended by four virginal bridesmaids and an African page boy.