Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a secret society of English painters, poets, and critics founded in London in 1848. Reacting against the conventional training of the Royal Academy of Arts, the group sought to revive the detail, intense colors, and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian and Flemish art. Their work was characterized by meticulous realism, symbolic medievalism, and a commitment to serious, often moral or literary, subject matter, which frequently sparked controversy in the Victorian era.

Origins and formation

The Brotherhood was formed in September 1848 by three Royal Academy Schools students: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and William Holman Hunt. They were soon joined by four additional members: the sculptor and poet Thomas Woolner, the painter James Collinson, the art critic Frederic George Stephens, and Rossetti’s brother, the writer William Michael Rossetti. The group’s formation was a direct reaction against what they saw as the stale, formulaic mannerisms taught by Sir Joshua Reynolds and perpetuated by the contemporary Royal Academy. They found inspiration in the perceived purity and spiritual sincerity of art before the time of Raphael, particularly the works of artists like Sandro Botticelli and Fra Angelico. Their early meetings were held at the family home of John Everett Millais on Gower Street or at the studio of William Holman Hunt.

Artistic principles and style

The Brotherhood’s principles, outlined in their periodical The Germ, advocated for a return to nature and truth. They insisted on painting directly from nature with meticulous attention to detail, often working outdoors for landscape elements. This practice resulted in a hyper-clarity and vivid, jewel-like color palette, as seen in the foreground flora of Millais’s Ophelia. They rejected the use of bitumen and the somber tones of much academic painting. Subjects were drawn from literature, particularly the works of William Shakespeare, John Keats, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson, as well as from medieval history and the Bible, aiming to convey serious moral or narrative messages. Their style emphasized complex symbolism, elongated figures, and a dreamlike, often melancholic atmosphere.

Major works and artists

The early masterpieces of the movement defined its public identity. John Everett Millais created Christ in the House of His Parents and the iconic Ophelia. William Holman Hunt produced morally earnest works like The Hireling Shepherd and his later, meticulously researched religious painting The Light of the World. Dante Gabriel Rossetti introduced a more sensual, medieval romanticism in works like Ecce Ancilla Domini and his many depictions of Beatrice Portinari from Dante Alighieri's La Vita Nuova. While the core Brotherhood dissolved by the early 1850s, their ideas were championed by influential supporters like the critic John Ruskin and later by artists such as Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, who would lead the movement into its second, more decorative phase associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Critical reception and controversy

The Brotherhood’s work initially met with fierce criticism from the art establishment. Their first exhibited works, signed with the enigmatic initials “PRB,” were attacked for their perceived ugliness, irreverence, and stylistic regression. The most notorious scandal erupted over Millais’s Christ in the House of His Parents, which was savaged by critics including Charles Dickens for its realistic, working-class depiction of the Holy Family. However, they found a powerful and eloquent defender in the leading art critic John Ruskin, who published letters in The Times praising their truth to nature and moral purpose. Ruskin’s patronage was crucial in shifting public opinion and securing a market for their work, moving them from pariahs to celebrated, if still debated, figures.

Later developments and influence

After the formal dissolution of the Brotherhood around 1853, its ethos evolved under the leadership of Dante Gabriel Rossetti into the broader Aesthetic and Symbolist movement. Rossetti, along with Edward Burne-Jones and the designer William Morris, founded the decorative arts firm Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., applying Pre-Raphaelite ideals to stained glass, tapestry, and book illustration. This second generation, often termed simply “Pre-Raphaelite,” moved away from strict realism toward a more poetic, symbolic, and sensual style, as seen in Burne-Jones’s mythological paintings like The Beguiling of Merlin. The movement profoundly influenced the development of Art Nouveau, the Symbolist movement across Europe, and later the Birmingham School of painters. Its legacy endured well into the 20th century, impacting illustrators like Arthur Rackham and the Scottish Colourists. Category:Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Category:Art movements Category:19th-century art