Pre-Raphaelites

By Kristina Voroshnina
04.3-503
 Pre-Raphaelites
In art, it refers to the Pre-
Raphaelite Brotherhood, a
group of avantgarde painters
(associated with the art critic
John Ruskin).
In literature it describes the
poets who had some
connections with these artists
and whose work shares some
of the characteristics of Pre-
Raphaelite art.

The Pre-Raphaelites turned away from the materialism of

industrialised England.
 Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB)
 Founded in 1948 in London
 William Holman Hunt, John Everett
Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti,
William Michael Rossetti, James
Collinson, Frederic George
Stephens,Thomas Woolner.
 Rejected the mechanistic approach first
adopted by Mannerist artists
 Took an example from the works of
Pietro Perugino, Fra Beato Angelico,
Giovanni Bellini (early XV)
Dante Rossetti, William Hunt
John Millais
 Pre-Raphaelite painters’ features
Beauty and comparative simplicity of
the Medieval world
Fidelity to nature: first-hand ditailed
representation of humble objects and
natural elements in natural light
Preference of bright, jewel-like
colours that where often used in a
symbolic way
Sharp focus on a white canvas
Painted from a model
The Girlhood of Mary Virgin (1848) , Lady Lilith (1868)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
 Ophelia (1851)
John Everett Millais
The Awakening Conscience (1853), Light of the world (1854)
William Holman Hunt
 Pre-Raphaelite poetry
 Christina Rossetti, George
Meredith, William Morris and Algernon
Charles Swinburne.
 Dante Rossetti – Poems (1870),
Ballads and Sonnets (1881)
 Swinburne - Atalanta in Calydon (1865)
 Morris - The Defence of Minevere and
other Poems (1858)
Pre-Raphaelite poetry’s features
 Emphasis on beautiful, sensuous details
 Symblic meaning associated with common objects or
situations
 Feelings of nostalgia for a dream-like medieval world
 Use of melodious language
Thank you for your attention!