The Ravishing (and Often Disturbing) History of Red Hair

The Victorian period saw a renewed interest in the medieval period, and artists in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood celebrated the sensuality and "witchy" appeal of redheads in art.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti's iconic paintings of redheads, like this one, are emblematic of the period. In straitlaced Victorian society, red hair became a signal of unbound female sexuality.