Pre-Raphaelite
Brotherhood
An association of young English
artists formed in 1848. Dismayed at what they saw as
the decadent state of British painting, the
Pre-Raphaelites sought to evoke the sincerity of
early Italian art before the High Renaissance master
Raphael, as exemplified by artists such as Sandro
Botticelli and Filippo Lippi. Pre-Raphaelite pictures
frequently depict literary, historical and religious
scenes and often make moralizing comments on social behavior and relationships. The artists painted
richly textured and minutely detailed pictures which
show particular interest in the decorative qualities
of flowers and fabric.
Representative painters:
Brown, Burne-Jones, Hunt, Millais, Rossetti,
Waterhouse