Mnemosyne (Rossetti) Mnemosyne (Rossetti) Mnemosyne, also titled Lamp of Memory and Ricordanza, is an oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti begun in 1875 or early 1876 and completed in 1881. Jane Morris was the model, and Frederick Richards Leyland bought the painting in 1881 and displayed it in his drawing room with five other Rossetti "stunners." At about the same time Rossetti, a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, was painting "Astarte Syriaca", a larger painting completed in 1877 with Morris in a very similar pose. "Mnemosyne" began as an oil study for "Astarte Syriaca", for which Jane Morris sat over the winter
Rainbows in mythology Navajo tradition, the rainbow is the path of the holy spirits, and is frequently depicted in sacred sandpaintings. The Maori tell a tale of Hina, the moon, who caused a rainbow to span the heavens even down to the earth, for her mortal husband to return to earth to end his days, since death may not enter her celestial home. In Greek mythology, Iris is the personification of the rainbow and a messenger linking the gods to humanity. Iris is frequently mentioned as a divine messenger in the Iliad. She carries a caduceus or winged staff. Iris's messages often concerned