Burne-Jones is here remembering Rossetti's watercolour and his first visits to his mentor's studio in 1855. Paulo and Francesca appear in Dante Alighieri's (1265-1321) The Divine Comedy Vol 1 where Dante describes "The infernal gale, which blows and never pauses, Directs the spirits which it carries before it: Harrasing them with turning and buffeting" Canto 5 lines 31-33 Trans C H Sisson. Another interpretation was made by the artist at this time for The Flower Book number 22 "With the Wind" (Watercolour version British Museum)