Pre-Raphaelites - Group of 19th-century English Poets, Painters, and Critics

There was a group of 19th-century English poets,formal structure and somber colors favored by the
painters, and critics called Pre-Raphaelites whoRoyal Academy.
reacted against the neoclassical conventions ofThey got inspiration from the religious and
academic art and Victorian materialism by producingscrupulously detailed art of the Middle Ages.
sincere, quasi-religious works. The group tookPre-Raphaelite art became more distinctive for its
inspiration from the medieval and early Renaissanceblend of romantic, archaic, and moralistic qualities. The
painters up to the time of the Italian painter Raphael.renowned English art critic John Ruskin was an avid
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood:supporter of this movement.
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was established inThe Works of the Pre-Raphaelites in Literature:
1848. Its major figure was the poet and painterOriginally, the movement was aimed at reviving
Dante Gabriel Rossetti. This group was made ofsimplicity, freshness and freedom in painting, but soon
other members such as William Michael Rossetti,it touched the literature and sculpture. The works of
sculptor and poet Thomas Woolner; painters Johnthe Pre-Raphaelites in literature may be considered as
Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt; painter Jamesa recurring phase of the Romantic Movement. If you
Collinson; and art critic Frederick George Stephens.look back to the Middle Ages, the school seem to be
The brotherhood disapproved of the imitative historicparallel to the Oxford movement in the Anglican
and genre painting of their time. They tried to revivechurch and a Gothic revival. In 1850 the members
art through a simpler, more positive vision. Forpublished a periodical called The Germ, in which some
example, in portrait painting, the group disdained theof Rossetti's initial literary work included.