Pre-Raphaelites

Pre-Raphaelites

The group’s most eminent members were: John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt. The rebellious group of seven was formed in 1848 as the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. These artists were against the predictability of academic art and turned to the directness and simplicity of Italian painters who came before Raphael. They drew inspiration from literary sources that gave moral themes or stories, such as the painting ‘Ophelia’ by John Everett Millais. Rossetti was the key figure in the movement. The idea of the movement was his and he kept the group alive by promoting its second generation of artists. But soon after, the group separated. Dante Rossetti, William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones formed another Brotherhood based in Oxford, specializing in the depiction of pale and ethereal beauties. While the others John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt went their separate ways but continue working according to the original idea of movement.  The pre- Raphaelitism was very successful during the Victorian era.

Bocca Baciata

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

References:

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia. 2013. Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/474248/Pre-Raphaelite-Brotherhood. [Accessed 02 April 2013].