ROSS CASTLE 



Ross Castle. Ancient tower or 

 keep on Ross Island, Killamey, 

 Ireland. Built in the late 14th 

 century, a stronghold of O'Don- 

 oghue Ross, head of a clan under 

 MacCarthy More, it was granted in 

 1588 by Elizabeth to Sir Valentine 

 Browne. When Lord Muskerry 

 was defeated by Lord Broghill in 

 1652, he took refuge in Ross Castle, 

 which later surrendered to the 

 Oomwellian leader Ludlow. See 

 Killarney, Lakes of. 



Rosse, WILLIAM PARSONS, 3RD 

 EARL OF (1800-67). British as- 

 tronomer. Born at York, June 17, 

 1800, he was 

 educated at 

 Trinity College. 

 Dublin, and 

 Magdalen Col- 

 ige, Oxford, 

 rom 1823-34 

 e represented 

 King's County 

 in parliament, 

 resigning in the 

 latter year in 

 order to devote himself to astro- 

 nomical pursuits. He carried out 

 a series of improvements in the 

 great reflecting telescope at Birr 

 Castle, in 1839, completing a 3 ft. 

 reflector, and in 1842-43 two each 

 of 6 ft. diameter. With one of 

 these latter telescopes Rosse made 

 many valuable observations of 

 nebulae and star clusters, and an- 

 nounced the discovery of spiral 

 nebulae. He was president of the 

 Royal Society 1849-54 He died 

 Oct. 31, 1867. 



Rosselli, COSIMO (1439-1507). 

 Italian painter. Born at Florence, 

 he studied under Neri de Bicci, 

 worked at 

 Rome, where 

 he was em- 

 ployed on the 

 decoration of 

 the S i s t i n e 

 Chapel, and at 

 Florence, 

 where his 

 masterpiece is 

 a fresco in S. 

 A m b r o g i o. 



3rd Earl ol Rosse, 

 British astronomer 



Piero di Co 



Cosimo Rosselli, 

 Italian painter 



Vaiari 



Aftf 



simo and Fra Bartolommeo were 

 his pupils. He died at Florence. 



Rossellino, BERNARDO (c. 1409- 

 64). Italian sculptor and architect. 

 Born at Settignano, he worked 

 chiefly at Florence with his younger 

 brother Antonio. One may cite 

 among his sculptures the Bcata 

 Villana tomb in S. Maria Novella, 

 Florence, and tl.e mausoleum of 

 L3onardo Bruzzi, of Arezzo, in 

 S mta Croce. He built the Vatican 

 for Pope Nicholas V, and executed 

 important works at Siena, Spoleto. 

 and Pienza. He died at Florence. 



67 1 1 



Rossetti, CHRISTINA GEORGINA 

 (1830-94). British poet. She was 

 born in London, Dec. 5, 1830, and 

 delicate in health from the age of 

 15. On the threshold of woman- 

 hood an unfortunate love affair 

 made a deep impression on her 

 mind, and helped to give to her 

 writing its note of sadness. 



A keen lover of books, animals, 

 and flowers, her first verse was 

 written in 1842, and much of the 

 best of it wa= the work of her 



. A fur D. O. Roiitll, 



earlier years. Her knowledge and 

 affection for country scenes was 

 gained from visits in childhood to 

 Holmer Green, near Little Missen- 

 den, Bucks. As published, her 

 works include Verses, privately 

 printed, 1847 ; Goblin Market and 

 Other Poems, 1862 ; The Prince's 

 Progress and Other Poems, 1866 ; 

 Sing-Song, a book of nursery 

 rhymes, 1872 ; A Pageant and 

 Other Poems, 1881 ; Verses, 1893 ; 

 New Poems, 1896. She also wrote 

 some short stories and devotional 

 prose, notably Time Flies, 1885. 

 Her death took place, after a long 

 and painful illness, Dec. 29, 1894, 

 and she was buried in Highgate 

 cemetery. A memorial reredos- 

 painting, designed by Burne-Jones 

 and executed by T. M. Rooke, was 

 afterwards placed in Christ Church. 

 Woburn Square. 



In English literature Christina 

 Rossetti takes her place with Her 

 bert, Crashaw, and Vaughan, and, 

 as a poet of the Oxford Movement, 

 with Keble and Newman. While 

 death, the grave, and renunciation 

 are constantly her themes, and 

 some of her lyrics, When I am 

 dead, my dearest, for example, are 

 poignant in their sadness, none of 

 them is morbid or gloomy, and 

 flashes of lambent fancy recall a 



ROSSETTI 



spirit that bore physical and men- 

 tal trial with steady fortitude and 

 abiding cheerfulness. Dr. Richard 

 Garnett justly compared the imag- 

 inative quality of Goblin Market 

 with The Ancient Mariner, and de- 

 clared its insight Shakespearean. 

 With Goblin Market may be re- 

 called The Prince's Progress, Mon 

 na Innominata : a Sonnet of Son- 

 nets, Amor Mundi, Vanity of Vani- 

 ties, Looking Forward, and The 

 Convent Threshold. Christina Ros- 

 setti' s work, remarkable for its 

 simplicity, purity, and flexibility, 

 possesses qualities that must al- 

 ways appeal to the sorrowful and 

 afflicted. See Poetical Works of 

 C. R., with Memoir and Notes, 

 W. M. Rossetti, 1904 ; Lives, E. A. 

 Proctor, 1896, and Mackenzie Bell, 

 1898 ; The Family Letters of C. R., 

 ed. W. M. Rossetti, 1908. 



Rossetti, DANTE GABRIEL (1828- 

 82). British poet and painter, 

 whose full name was Gabriel 

 Charles Dante Rossetti. Born at 

 Charlotte Street, Portland Place 

 London, May 12, 1828, he was the 

 eldest son of Gabriele and Frances 

 Mary Rossetti, refugees from 

 Naples. His father was professor 

 of Italian at King's College, Lon- 

 don, at the school attached to 

 which Dante Rossetti was edu- 

 cated. He studied drawing under 

 J. S. Cotman, and entered Gary's 

 Academy in Bloomsbury, 1842, and 

 the R.A. schools, 1846. His literary 

 power developed in advance of his 

 painting ; The Blessed Damoz.el 

 and several sonnets were com- 

 posed about 1847. In 1848, how- 

 ever, he became the pupil of Ford 

 Madox Brown, a step which led 

 to his acquaintance with Holman 

 Hunt and Millais, and incidentally 

 to the formation of the Pre- 

 Raphaelite Brotherhood. 



About 1852 he became engaged 

 to Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal, the 

 model for hi? Beatrices and of 



