Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood

Rossetti, Proserpine, 1877

The Brotherhood was begun in 1848 by three artists, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 - 1882, John Everett Millais and William Hollman Hunt. The brotherhood was created in reaction to the formulaic art of the Academy. The Pre Raphaelites called for more genuine art that was closer to reality and to nature. Instead of painting completely formula-based idealized figures, the brotherhood believed that the subjects in their work should be based on live models. The name Pre Raphaelites was chosen to refer to art before Raphael was canonized by the Royal Academies. Art students had to learn from the Raphaelite's work. Raphael Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo created works of Renaissance “balanced perfection” and the formulas were imprinted into the work of art students of the time. The group used vivid colors and also depicted the romantic subject matter of legends and Greek myths.

Although the style continued to be popular into the early 1900s, the brotherhood was short lived, and the three initial artists who founded the alliance as well as other artists who adhered to the principles eventually succeeded to other styles of artwork.