the youthful rossetti is described as "self-possessed, articulate, passionate and charismatic" but also "ardent, poetic and feckless". like all his siblings, he aspired to be a poet and attended king's college school, in its original location near the strand in london. he also wished to be a painter, having shown a great interest in medieval italian art. he studied at henry sass' drawing academy from 1841 to 1845, when he enrolled in the antique school of the royal academy, which he left in 1848. after leaving the royal academy, rossetti studied under ford madox brown, with whom he retained a close relationship throughout his life.