The Rossetti family

This photograph shows the Rossetti family in the garden of Tudor House, 16 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London. This was the home of the painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Represented from left to right are Dante Gabriel, Christina and their mother Frances (both seated) and William Michael. Lewis Carroll, poet and mathematician, is best known as the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. He was introduced to Rossetti by his friend, the sculptor Alexander Munro. Photography was invented when Carroll was aged ten and he took it up as a hobby in his early twenties, specialising in pictures of young girls and famous people. He was pleased to be invited by Rossetti to use Tudor House as a venue for posing his sitters.