The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848. The group sought a return to the abundant detail, intense colours and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian art. Later followers of the principles of the Brotherhood included Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris and John William Waterhouse.
About Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in brief
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848. The group sought a return to the abundant detail, intense colours and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian art. They rejected what they regarded as the mechanistic approach first adopted by Mannerist artists who succeeded Raphael and Michelangelo. Later followers of the principles of the Brotherhood included Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris and John William Waterhouse. The Brotherhood was greatly influenced by nature and its members used its great detail to show the natural world. In its early stages, the movement believed two interests were consistent with one another, but in later years the movement divided and moved in two directions. The Pre- Raphaelites defined themselves as a reform movement, created a distinct name for their form of art, and published a periodical, The Germ, to promote their ideas. Other young painters and sculptors became close associates, including Charles Allston Collins, and Alexander Munro. The PRB intended to keep the existence of the brotherhood secret from members of the Royal Academy. The brotherhood’s early doctrines, as defined by William Michael Rossetti, were expressed in four declarations: The principles were deliberately non-dogmatic, since the brotherage wished to emphasise the personal responsibility of individual artists to determine their own ideas and methods of depiction. Christian themes were abundant. The members thought freedom and responsibility were inseparable. They were fascinated by medieval culture, believing it to possess a spiritual and creative integrity that had been lost in later eras.
The emphasis on medieval culture clashed with principles of realism which stress the independent observation of nature which stress nature’s independent observation. The brothers believed that art was essentially spiritual in character, opposing their idealism to the materialist idealism of Courbetism and Impressionism. They associated their work with John Ruskin, an English critic whose influences were driven by his religious background. The Brothers were led by John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt, while Rossetti was led by Rossetti’s brother, poet and critic William Michael. Hunt had started painting The Eve of St. Agnes based on Keats’s poem of the same name, but it was not completed until 1867. Ford Madox Brown was invited to join, but the more senior artist remained independent but supported the group throughout the PRB period of Pre- raphaelitism and contributed to The Germ. The Brotherhood separated after almost five years and was never absolute, since it was never split since William Morris was the absolute leader of the group. It was never ever a loose association and their principles were shared by other artists of the time, including FordMadox Brown, Arthur Hughes and Marie Spartali Stillman, and Thomas Woolner. It has been suggested that the Brotherhood was inspired by the Nazarene movement, but this has not been confirmed by any of its members. It is not known if the Brotherhood ever had a formal association with the Church of England.
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