Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
also: PRB · Pre-Raphaelites
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded in London in 1848 by seven young painters, poets and critics - among them William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti - partly modelled on the German Nazarene movement. They set themselves against the academic formulas taught after Raphael, mocking Royal Academy founder Joshua Reynolds as 'Sir Sloshua', and called for a return to the abundant detail, intense color and complex compositions of early Italian art before Raphael. Truth to nature and sincere, often religious or literary subjects were their watchwords. They hid the initials 'PRB' in their canvases, published the periodical The Germ to argue their case, and drew support from the critic John Ruskin. The loose association effectively dissolved after about five years, but its principles launched the broader Pre-Raphaelite movement.
Defining characteristics
- Bright, jewel-like color laid over a wet white ground for inner luminosity
- Exacting, botanically precise detail painted from direct study of nature
- Medieval and literary subjects treated with earnest, symbolic weight
- Dense, shallow compositions with flattened space and close viewpoints
- The secret 'PRB' monogram tucked into finished canvases
Key figures
- William Holman Hunt (1827-1910) — Founding member whose symbolic, meticulously observed canvases defined the circle's program
- John Everett Millais (1829-1896) — Founding member and prodigy of the circle's early exhibitions
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) — Founding member who fused poetry and painting and led the movement's second, medievalist phase
- William Michael Rossetti (1829-1919) — Founding member, critic and organizer of the Brotherhood's records and its periodical The Germ
Example works
- The Hireling Shepherd — William Holman Hunt (1851)
- Ophelia — John Everett Millais (1851-1852)
- The Awakening Conscience — William Holman Hunt (1853)
Sources
- Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood - Wikipedia encyclopedia