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A BROTHERHOOD OF REALISM AND ROMANCE - THE PRE-RAPHAELITES
By Richard Moss
21/09/2007
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Venus Verticordia, oil, 1863-8. © Russell-Cotes Art Gallery, Bournemouth

Love them or loathe them the Pre-Raphaelites occupy a peculiar and influential space in the history of British art. Even today, over 150 years after it was painted, the most popular painting in Tate Britain's postcard shop remains Millais' classic portrayal of Shakespeare's tragic heroine, Ophelia.
In many ways, the painting serves as a kind of blueprint of the Pre-Raphaelite style; the beautifully tragic girl, the truth to nature, the literary theme and layer upon layer of symbolism.
Yet despite these easy-to-identify themes, to look for a common style in the Pre-Raphaelite painters is really to look in vain.
Tate Britain's most popular painting, John Everett Millais' Ophelia (detail) 1851-52, oil on canvas. Presented by Sir Henry Tate 1894. Picture © Tate.
A survey of their work reveals a surprisingly wide variety of approaches and subject matter, whilst an investigation of the artists themselves shows an idealistic group in touch with their times.
Not only did the Pre-Raphaelites seek to improve standards in contemporary art, later members and associates, in particular Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, sought to improve standards in society as well.
The first group of painters to establish themselves as the Pre- ...(READ MORE ON 24 )

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