All Pre-Raphaelite paintings in the film are the best offer. Pre-Raphaelites: the purpose of art, artists, tasks, paintings
R. Fenton. Interior of Tintern Abbey, late 1850s
In 1848, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood arose in Great Britain - an association of artists created by William Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Milles. Young painters were against the system of academic education and the conservative tastes of Victorian society.
The Pre-Raphaelites were inspired by the painting of the Italian Proto-Renaissance and the 15th century, hence the very name "Pre-Raphaelites" - literally "before Raphael" ( italian artist High Renaissance Rafael Santi).
Frederick Scott Archer's invention of the wet colloid process, which replaced calotype, coincided with the rise of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Members of the fraternity enthusiastically welcomed the emergence of a new method. At a time when most artists considered amazing accuracy to be a disadvantage photographic image, the Pre-Raphaelites, themselves striving for scrupulous transmission of details in painting, admired precisely this aspect of photography. An art critic who supported the ideas of the Pre-Raphaelites, John Ruskin, spoke of the first daguerreotypes he bought in Venice as “little treasures”: “As if a magician reduced a real object (San Marco or Canal Grande) so that he could take it with him to an enchanted land.
The Pre-Raphaelites, like many artists of the time, used photographs as preparatory stage to create pictures. Gabriel Rossetti took a series of photographs of Jane Morris, which became the material for the artist's future canvases. Rossetti and William Morris painted and photographed this woman many times, finding in her the features of the romantic medieval beauty that they so admired.
A few years after the formation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in England, the “For highly artistic photography” movement appeared. The organizers of this movement were the painters Oscar Gustav Reilander (1813–1875) and Henry Peach Robinson (1830–1901), who were closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelites and shared their ideas. Reilander and Robinson, like the Pre-Raphaelites, drew inspiration from the world of medieval images. English Literature, in works English poets William Shakespeare and John Milton. In 1858, Robinson created one of his best photographs, The Lady of Shalott, close in composition to the Pre-Raphaelite painting Ophelia by D. Milles. Being an adherent of photomontage, Robinson printed a picture from two negatives: on one negative the author took a model in a boat, on the other he captured a landscape.
Members of the movement "For highly artistic photography" interpreted the picture as a picture, in full accordance with the norms academic painting. In his book Pictorial Effect in Photography (1869), Robinson referred to the rules of composition, harmony, and balance necessary to achieve "painterly effect": using paint and pencil.
Oscar Gustaf Reilander was born in Sweden, studied painting in Italy and moved to England in 1841. Reilander became interested in photography in the 1850s. Fame brought him the allegorical composition "Two Ways of Life", exhibited in 1857 at the Exhibition of Art Treasures in Manchester. The photograph was made using the photomontage technique, and Reilander needed 30 (!) negatives to make it. But the lack of public recognition led him to abandon his laborious technique and move on to shooting portraits. Unlike his allegorical compositions, Rejlander's portraits are more perfect in terms of technique. Miss Mander's portrait is one of the finest Reilander's.
The painter Roger Fenton (1819–1869) had the highest opinion of photography, even founding a photographic society in 1853. His early series of photographs with views of Russia, portraits of the royal family and reports from Crimean War brought him international recognition. Fenton's approach to the landscape is connected with the Pre-Raphaelites and their vision: a high horizon line, the absence of such romantic devices as haze, fog, etc. Fenton, like the Pre-Raphaelites, sought to emphasize his technical skill and sang the tangible reality of the landscape. The master also shared the Pre-Raphaelite interest in women in exotic attire, which can be seen in the "Nubian Water Carriers" or "Egyptian Dancing Girls".
Of particular note are the photographs of children taken by Lewis Carroll (1832–1898). Author of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University, Carroll (real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) was also a gifted amateur photographer. For Carroll, light painting was not just a pastime, but a great passion, to which he sacrificed a lot of time and devoted several short essays and even the poem "Hiawatha the Photographer" (1857):
On Hiawatha's shoulder - A box of rosewood: The device is collapsible, Of planks and glass, Deftly tightened with screws, To fit in a chest. Hiawatha climbs into the casket And opens the hinges, Turning the small casket Into a cunning figure As if from the books of Euclid. Puts it on a tripod And climbs under the black canopy. Crouching, he waves his hand: - Well! Freeze! I beg you! A very strange activity.
The writer devoted 25 years to the "strange" occupation, during which he created wonderful children's portraits, showing himself to be a fine connoisseur of child psychology. Like the Pre-Raphaelites, who moved farther and farther into the world of their fantasy in search of ideal and beauty, Carroll was looking for his fabulous Alice in the photographic Looking Glass. Mrs. Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1878) turned to photography in the mid-1860s when her daughter gave her a camera. “I longed to capture all the beauty that passed before me,” Cameron wrote, “and finally my desire was granted.”
In 1874–75, Cameron, at the request of her friend Tennyson, illustrated some of his poems and poems. The composition of the photograph "The Parting of Lancelot and Guinevere" is close to the composition of the paintings of D. G. Rossetti, but Cameron does not have the accuracy in conveying details that is inherent in the Pre-Raphaelites. By softening the optical pattern, Cameron achieves greater poetry in his works.
The work of the Pre-Raphaelites and photographers was very closely connected. And the influence was not one-sided. Julia Cameron, abandoning precise focusing, created magnificent photographic studies. Rossetti, who highly appreciated her work, changed his style of writing, subsequently striving for greater artistic generalization. Gabriel Rossetti and John Milles used photographs to create their paintings, and the photographers in turn turned to themes developed by the Pre-Raphaelites. Photo portraits created by L. Carroll, D. M. Cameron and O. G. Reilander convey not so much the character as the moods and dreams of their models - which is typical of Pre-Raphaelism. The approach to depicting nature was the same: the early landscapes of the Pre-Raphaelites and the landscapes of photographers such as, for example, Roger Fenton, are extremely accurate and detailed.
Mock, Rousseau and Voltaire, everywhere boldly drop Your mocking, laughing, eternally mocking look, Against the wind you throw a handful full of sand, The same wind will immediately throw it back to you. Having reflected the patterns in the grains of divine light, He will be able to turn them all into precious stones, And, throwing back the sand, he will blind the shameless eyes, And the roads of Israel shine and will shine. Democritus atoms, points that rush about, arguing, Light particles of Newton's child's play, These are only grains of sand on the shore of the Red Sea, Where Israel spread their golden tents. William Blake your
Pre-Raphaelite Painting
Second half of the 19th century. Art is becoming more and more realistic.
The main theme of art is visible, audible, tangible..
But in the middle of the century, more precisely in 1849, in the rationalist Victorian England, whose atmosphere was very conducive to the indicated state of affairs, an association of artists arose who opposed it with worlds of their own imagination, similar to fairy tale.
It was during this era English professor mathematician Lewis Carroll came up with the world through the looking glass
SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLES
called themselves the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, as opposed to the academic artists who considered themselves followers of the great Italian.
The very name of this society, which at first was secret, says a lot about the ideals and goals of these young people. No wonder they called their circle "Brotherhood" - as a kind of monastic or knightly order, expressing his desire for purity and spiritual tension medieval art, and from the definition of "Pre-Raphaelites" it is clear what period they were oriented towards - before Raphael.
Members of the brotherhood rushed to a different era, in beautiful world frontier arts, the world of the dying Gothic and the emerging Renaissance, when artists were "honest before God" artisans, by the time when the pursuit of the ideal had not yet deprived art of the main thing, in their opinion, - sincerity.
They believed that it was necessary to return to the pious, simple, natural and naturalistic style of the artists of the XIV-XV centuries. and, more importantly, return to nature itself
Later, Pre-Raphaelites began to be called not only direct members of the fraternity, but also other artists, as well as poets and writers of Victorian England, who professed similar aesthetic views.
Following the romantics of the beginning of the century, they drew inspiration from the images of the Middle Ages. In legends, chivalric romances, songs and sagas. And from the very beginning, next to magical images medieval legends, the beautiful faces of Christian saints and martyrs arose.
A little later, antique motifs came into their work, but their interpretation was strikingly different from the usual.
They did not copy the medieval style, but tried to reproduce the spirit of the Middle Ages and early renaissance.
What was the most important thing for them? There is only one answer - beauty.
No wonder the creation is absolutely beautiful works art they counted among the main tasks of their association. In all the objects they took from reality, to construct their world, they found beauty, which in turn was evidence of divine greatness and nature, which had a transcendent origin. Beauty for them was the thread of Ariadne that connected our world and the Divine world.
The early romantics of the Victorian era.
Between 1848 and 49 the Pre-Raphaelites produced many paintings, easily distinguishable by bright color and many carefully written details. They turned to subjects that were not characteristic of academicians: biblical scenes, medieval poetry (ballads, Chaucer), Shakespeare, folk ballads, the work of contemporary poets (for example, John Keats), etc.
Each painting was marked with a secret PRB sign. Their paintings can be called naturalistic, but they did not put into this word modern sense, but the idea that, in imitation of the artists of the trecento and quattrocento, you need to write simply, without rules, without theory.
The famous "Annunciation" by Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Annunciation. 1850. Tate Gallery
Masters Italian Renaissance portrayed the Madonna as a saint, having nothing to do with everyday life.
By presenting the Annunciation realistically, Rossetti broke all traditions. His Madonna is an ordinary girl, embarrassed and frightened by the news brought to her by an Angel. Such unusual approach, which infuriated many art lovers, corresponded to the intention of the Pre-Raphaelites to paint pictures truthfully.
The public did not like the painting "The Annunciation": the artist was accused of imitating the old Italian masters. The realism of the image caused strong disapproval (including Charles Dickens),
Rossetti was suspected of sympathizing with the papacy.
But the Pre-Raphaelites soon gained numerous admirers, especially among the growing middle class of central and northern England. Members of the "Brotherhood" expressed their ideas in articles, stories and poems published in their journal "Rostok", and by the end of 1850 they were known outside the academy.
"Beata Beatrix", a "monument" to the love of a lost wife...
Beata Beatrix. Day dreams.
The marriage and subsequent suicide of his wife, poetess and artist Elizabeth Siddal, also had a huge impact on his life and work. She was his student, model, lover and main source of inspiration. Rossetti loved her for almost 10 years, and made many sketches with Elizabeth, some of which later served as sketches for his paintings.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Beata Beatrix. 1864-1870.
Melancholic and ill with tuberculosis, Lizzie died two years after her marriage from an opium overdose.
"Ophelia" by John Millais, another story tragic love
John Milles. Ophelia. 1852. Tate Gallery
The stained-glass window in the window was painted from nature, and each dry leaf was painted with amazing care. Then Lizzy Siddell posed for this picture, which Milles forced to lie in the bath in order to paint wet fabric and hair in the most plausible way (Lizzie, of course, caught a cold).
The flowers depicted in the picture with stunning botanical accuracy have symbolic meaning- they refer to the text of the play. Stream and flowers Milles painted from nature. At first he included daffodils in the picture, but then he found out that at this time of the year they no longer bloom, and painted over them.
And again Shakespearean heroes, this time "Claudio and Isabella" (heroes of the play "Measure for Measure") by Holman Hunt ...
Shakespeare's Claudio and Isabella from Measure for Measure 1850
The plot of the play goes back to the popular in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
story, very common not only in the form oral tradition, but also in
novelistic and dramatic processing. It basically boils down to
to the following: the beloved or sister of the condemned death penalty asks
judges for his pardon; the judge promises to comply with her request, provided that
she will sacrifice her innocence to him for this. Having received the desired gift, the judge
no less orders to carry out the sentence; according to the complaint of the victim,
the ruler tells the offender to marry his victim, and after the wedding ceremony
execute him
On proper English soil, they were based on the views of William Blake and John Ruskin.
John Ruskin
Ruskin - art theorist
The art historian Raskin urged to look for God in nature and was also afraid that nature would soon disappear due to industrialization, and it was necessary to capture it the way God created it and "find His signature in it." he himself outstanding artist was not, but provided the Pre-Raphaelites with an ideological base. He liked the aspirations of the Pre-Raphaelites and he defended their methods from the attacks of academics.
In the religious and symbolic motifs of young Pre-Raphaelite artists, John Ruskin saw important discovery in art. He proposed a set of unshakable rules with a call to study nature, use the achievements of science.
Ruskin:
“Is it not because we love our creations more than His, we value colored glass, not bright clouds ... And, making fonts and erecting columns in honor of Him ... we imagine that we will be forgiven for shameful neglect of hills and streams, with which He endowed our habitation - the earth "
Thomas Phillips Portrait of William Blake 1807
William Blake - the harmony of nature, in his opinion, was only an anticipation of more
high harmony, which should be created by a holistic and spiritualized
personality. This belief predetermined creative principles Blake.
For romantics, nature is a mirror of the soul, for Blake it is rather a book of symbols.
He does not value either the brilliance of the landscape or its authenticity, just as he does not value psychologism.
Painting by William Blake.
Everything around him is perceived in the light of spiritual conflicts,
and above all through the prism of the eternal conflict of mechanistic and free
visions. In nature, he reveals the same passivity and mechanism that
and in social life.
Hear the voice of the Singer! His song will wake your hearts with the Word of the Creator - the Word was, and is, and will be. Lost souls It calls, Crying over the evening dew, And the black firmament - Again the stars will light up, The world will tear out of the child's darkness! "Come back, O Earth of Light, Shaking off the darkness of the dew! The night is decrepit, The dawn haze Creeps in the stagnant quagmire. Never disappear! What is itching for you here? In sky star, There is water in the sea - You never know what to find.
In 1850, the Pre-Raphaelites published the magazine "Rostok" (The Germ), where they printed literary experiments, their own and their friends - in fact, through this magazine they learned about them. But they never had a formal program, and all the artists, united by a common idea, were very different. Suffice it to say that by the mid-1850s they had actually gone their separate ways.
The first works of the Brotherhood are two paintings:
Isabella (1848-9, Milles) and the Childhood of Mary (1848-9, Rossetti).
Both are quite unusual for that time.
Isabella John Everett Millais.
For example, there is no perspective in Isabella: all the figures sitting at the table are the same size. An unconventional plot is used (a rather dark short story by Boccaccio, retold by Keats, about two lovers, Lorenzo and Isabella: Lorenzo was a servant in the house where Isabella lived with her brothers, and when the brothers found out that Lorenzo and Isabella were in love with each other, they the young man was killed; his spirit appeared to the girl and indicated where the body was buried, and Isabella went there, dug up her lover's head and hid it in a pot of basil; however, his brothers took it away from her, and in the end she died) and numerous symbols (on There is a pot with the same basil in the window, and two passionflowers, the “flower of suffering”, are intertwined near it; Lorenzo serves Isabella an orange on a plate, which depicts a biblical scene with a beheading).
Childhood of the Virgin Mary.
There is also no perspective in Mary's Childhood: the figures of the Virgin Mary and her mother Anna in the foreground are actually the same size as the figure of Joachim, Mary's father, in the second. It is interesting that the sacred plot is presented as quite everyday, and if it were not for the presence of an angel and halos above our heads, we might not understand that we have a scene from the life of the Mother of God before us. This picture is also filled with symbols that Rossetti was very fond of in general: a dove sits on a lattice, a symbol of the Holy Spirit and the future Annunciation; books - a symbol of virtue, a lily - purity, intertwined branches of a palm tree and a wild rose symbolize the seven joys and seven sorrows of the Virgin, grapes - communion, a lamp - piety. Many symbols, especially those of Rossetti, were not traditional, so the artists had to explain them to the audience; here, for example, a sonnet is written on the frame.
To be continued…
It is not surprising that the very idea of breaking with academism in painting arose among students, moreover, among students of the British Royal Academy of Arts. The initial discussion arose between three students: Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rosetti, and John Evertt Millais. Young and far from untalented artists reflected on the present and future of painting, shared their reformist plans and eventually came to the creation of the secret Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. It was in opposition to the official line of the Academy and proclaimed a return to the ideals of the era "before Raphael." Soon secret society already included seven artists.
The Brotherhood had its own magazine, Sprout, and Dante Rossetti, for example, signed some paintings with the initials P.R.B, marking belonging to this group. The journal also published the first postulates of the society. Over time, the ideas of the "Brotherhood" took shape in single system, which helped develop Pre-Raphaelism in culture.
After several years of existence, the "Brotherhood" broke up, and each of its members went to own way. But even after the destruction of the organization, the theses and thoughts of the Pre-Raphaelites excited the public. Their ideas have penetrated many areas of culture: design, illustration, decorative art and in literature.
Theory provisions
Initially, the Pre-Raphaelites published theses on reform in art in their own journal. They called for the return visual arts to reality and naturalness, and also heralded the rejection of mythological and historical plots. Beauty should not be abstract, alien to the naturalness of a person.
It is logical that one of the main postulates of the direction was work from nature. Often in the paintings of artists you can find their relatives or friends. Historians of painting meticulously examine their canvases and find curious parallels and coincidences.
The "Brotherhood" also turned to painting technique. Their task was to move away from the dark tones that the bitumen used by the artists at that time gave. They wanted clean picturesque image, high precision in detail and rich hues typical of the Quattrocento era. To achieve this effect, they applied a layer of white to the primed canvas, cleaned the canvas of oil and worked on top with translucent paints. The technique made it possible to achieve purity of the drawing and extraordinary lightness at that time.
The excessive naturalism and novelty of the approach aroused not only interest, but also rejection in society. However, the authoritative critic John Ruskin became interested in Pre-Raphaelite painting. It was he who formalized the postulates of the "Brotherhood" into a logical and harmonious art system, and revealed the Pre-Raphaelites to the world, helped to understand their motives and art.
Ruskin substantiated several principles of this artistic movement and supported them financially. The maximum detail was justified by the artists' attention to the very essence of things, the unwillingness to be content with generally accepted ideas about nature and man. The Pre-Raphaelites were so attentive to detail that, in their desire to paint from nature, they came to awe of the smallest details, spent an incredible amount of time outdoors and working with models.
Another principle highlighted by Ruskin is fidelity to nature, combined with fidelity to spiritual principles. In every branch and leaf, in every drop of water, the artists saw the creation of God, and therefore, they treated everything with awe and reverence. The return to spirituality saw a new birth and a turn to the religiosity of the early Renaissance.
The support of the critic influenced the position of the Pre-Raphaelites in society, they became more popular and even became fashionable.
Artists and their creations
John Evert Millais, "Ophelia"
Millais was one of the founders of the movement. Extremely talented, he became one of the youngest applicants at the Royal Academy of Arts. The painting was created by Millet in the course of many hours of plein air in the fresh air. The artist could work up to 11 hours a day! The artist directed all his attention to creating a landscape, so the figure of a girl was the final detail of the canvas. Millais was so obsessed with detail that he forced model Elizabeth Siddal to spend several hours in a bath filled to the brim. The girl caught a cold, and the story became one of the legends of the Pre-Raphaelites.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, "Lady Lilith"
The artist spent 2 years writing the first version of the picture, and later he rewrote the girl’s face with a new model. The picture is a diptych with the work "Sibyl Palmifera". Remarkably, Rossetti applied sonnets of his own composition to the frames. "Lady Lilith" is an ode to beauty. The spirit of symbolism is strong in the picture: white roses, poppy, the contents of the dressing table. Historians call this work feminist: in a woman is concentrated great power and beauty.
Evelyn de Morgan, "Medea"
The artist refers to ancient Greek myths and takes one of the most dramatic images in literature. In the center of the work is a red-haired woman beloved by the Pre-Raphaelites.
Hunt William Holman, "The Hired Shepherd" It was by no means a pastoral that came out from under Holman's brush. IN best traditions"Brotherhood" picture just glows with bright hues. All plans are finely worked out, the work is interesting to consider. Historians believe that Holman put into the canvas his bewilderment of the contemporary religious discussion and the role of priests in it.
Ford Murdoch Brown, "Farewell to England"
In the center of the work is an absolutely earthly theme - emigration, with new force sounded in contemporary artist Britain. In the center is a family that is looking for new house. In the picture you can find the daughter and wife of the artist, he wrote from nature, paying tribute to the ideas of the Pre-Raphaelites. Although Brown was never a member of the Brotherhood, he supported his ideals, which was reflected in this work.
Britain is proud of its Pre-Raphaelite movement, because it is one of the most vibrant artistic movements that originated in England. Despite the fact that the works of these artists were criticized at first, they found their place in world culture and radically influenced modern Art and on popular culture.
Since the 1850s, a new trend in poetry and painting began to develop in England. It was called "Pre-Raphaelites". This article presents the main ideas of the art community, topics creative activity, pre-Raphaelite paintings with titles.
Who are the Pre-Raphaelites?
Seeking to get away from boring academic traditions and realistic aesthetics Victorian era, a group of artists created their own It penetrated almost all spheres of life, shaped the behavior and communication of its creators. Both the direction of art and its representatives-painters bore the same name - the Pre-Raphaelites. Their paintings demonstrated a spiritual relationship with the early Renaissance. Actually, the name of the brotherhood speaks for itself. The painters were interested in the creators who worked before the heyday of Raphael and Michelangelo. Among them - Bellini, Perugino, Angelico.
The direction developed during the second half of the 19th century.
emergence
Until the 1850s, all English art was under the wing of the arts. Its president, Sir, like any other representative of an official institution, was reluctant to accept innovations and did not encourage the experiments of his students.
In the end, such a tight framework forced several painters with similar views on art in general to unite in a brotherhood. Its first representatives were Holman Hunt and Dante Rossetti. They met at an exhibition at the academy and during the conversation realized that their views are largely similar.
Rossetti was painting at that time the painting "The Youth of the Virgin Mary", and Hunt helped him complete it not by deed, but by word. Already in 1849, the canvas was displayed at the exhibition. Young people agreed that modern English painting is going through a difficult period in its history. In order to somehow revive this art form, it was necessary to return to pre-academic origins, to simplicity and sensuality.
Main Representatives
Originally a Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood whose paintings inspired new life V british culture consisted of seven people.
1. Holman Hunt. lived long life, remaining true to his views on art until his death. He became the author of several publications telling about the members of the brotherhood and describing the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites. Among famous paintings the painter himself - "The Shadow of Death" (a religious painting depicting Jesus), "Isabella and the Pot of Basil" (based on the poem by John Keats), (written on the basis of biblical legends).
2. John Millais. Known as the youngest student of the Academy of Arts, who later became its president. John, after a long period of work in the Pre-Raphaelite style, renounced the brotherhood. To feed his family, he began to paint portraits to order and succeeded in this. The most notable works are "Christ in parental home" (a religious painting filled with symbols future life and the death of Christ), "Ophelia" (written on the basis of an episode from "Hamlet"), " Bubble"(canvas late period creativity, became famous as an advertisement for soap).
3. Dante Rossetti. The paintings are filled with the cult of the beauty and eroticism of a woman. His wife Elizabeth became the main muse of the painter. Her death knocked Dante down. He put all his manuscripts with poems in her coffin, but a few years later, having come to his senses, he achieved exhumation and took them from the grave. Notable works: "Blessed Beatrice" (depicted is Dante's wife, who is between life and death), "Proserpina" (an ancient Roman goddess with a pomegranate in her hands), "Veronica Veronese" (a symbolic canvas reflecting the creative process).
4. Michael Rossetti. Dante's brother, who also studied at the academy. But in the end, he chose the path of a critic and a writer for himself. The paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites were repeatedly analyzed by him. He was the biographer of his brother. Formulated the main concepts of the direction.
5. Thomas Woolner. He was a sculptor and a poet. In his early work supported the ideas of the Pre-Raphaelites, turned to nature and took into account minor details. Published his poems in a fraternity magazine, but then moved away from them common ideas and concentrated on classical forms.
6. Frederick Stevens. Artist and art critic. Quite early he became disillusioned with his talent as a painter and focused on criticism. He considered it his mission to explain to the public the goals of the brotherhood and glorify the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites. Several of his paintings have been preserved: "The Marquis and Griselda", "Mother and Child", "The Death of King Arthur".
7. James Collinson. He was a believer, so he painted pictures on religious themes. He left the community after Millet's painting was criticized in the press and called blasphemous. Among his works are " holy family"," The abdication of Elizabeth of Hungary", "Sisters".
The Pre-Raphaelites, whose paintings caused much controversy, had a number of like-minded people. They were not part of the brotherhood, but adhered to the basic ideas. Among them are the artist L. Alma-Tadema, the designer F. M. Brown, the painter W. Deverell, the embroiderer M. Morris, the illustrator A. Hughes and others.
Criticism at an early stage
Initially, the Pre-Raphaelite paintings were received quite warmly by critics. They were like a sip fresh air. However, the situation escalated after the presentation in the light of several religious paintings, written in inconsistency with the canons.
In particular, the painting "Christ in the parental home" by Millet. The canvas depicts an ascetic setting, a barn, near which a flock of sheep is grazing. The Mother of God is kneeling before little Jesus, who injured his hand with a nail. Millet filled this picture with symbols. A bleeding hand is a sign of a future crucifixion, a bowl of water carried by John the Baptist is a symbol of the Baptism of the Lord, a dove sitting on a ladder is identified with the Holy Spirit, sheep with an innocent victim.
Critics called this picture blasphemous. The Times newspaper dubbed the canvas a rebellion in art. Others, pointing to the comparison of the holy family with the common people, characterized Millet's work as outrageous and disgusting.
Rossetti's painting "The Annunciation" was also attacked. The painter departed from the biblical canons, dressing the Virgin in white clothes. On the canvas, she is depicted as frightened. Critic F. Stone compared the work of the Pre-Raphaelites with useless archeology.
Who knows how the fate of the brotherhood would have developed if the critic John Ruskin had not come out on his side, whose opinion everyone reckoned with.
The influence of an authoritative person
John Ruskin was an art historian and wrote many scientific work before becoming acquainted with the work of the Pre-Raphaelites. What was his surprise when he realized that all the thoughts and ideas reflected in his articles found their place on the canvases of the brotherhood.
Ruskin advocated penetration into the essence of nature, attention to detail, removal from imposed canons and depicting scenes as they should be. All this included the program of the Pre-Raphaelites.
The critic wrote several articles for The Times, where he praised the work of artists. He bought some of their paintings, supporting the creators both morally and financially. Ruskin liked the new and unusual manner of writing. The Pre-Raphaelites subsequently created several portraits of their protector and patron.
Plots of paintings
Initially, artists turned exclusively to gospel stories, focusing on the experience of the creators of the early Renaissance. They did not seek to complete the picture according to church canons. main goal there was a transfer philosophical thought onto canvas. That is why the canvases of the Pre-Raphaelites are so detailed and symbolic.
"The Youth of the Virgin Mary" by Rossetti was quite in line with the demands of the Victorian era. It depicted a modest girl under the supervision of her mother. Usually she was depicted reading, but Dante put a needle in the hands of the Virgin. She embroidered a lily on the canvas - a symbol of purity and purity. Three flowers on the stem - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Palm leaves and thorns are the joys and sorrows of Mary. There are no meaningless objects, colors and actions in the picture - everything is designed to indicate a philosophical meaning.
A little later, the Pre-Raphaelite artists, whose paintings attracted public attention, began to turn to the themes of human inequality ("Lady Lilith"), the exploitation of women ("Awakened Shame"), emigration ("Farewell to England").
An important role in the work of the brotherhood was played by paintings based on the works of English poets and writers. The painters were inspired by the works of Shakespeare, Keats, and the Italian Dante Alighieri.
Women's images
The subject of paintings with female characters among the Pre-Raphaelites is quite diverse. They were united in only one thing - on their canvases reigned female beauty. The ladies were depicted as invariably beautiful, calm, with a touch of mystery. The plots are different: damnation, death, unrequited love, spiritual purity.
Quite often, the topic of adultery is raised, where a woman is exposed in an unseemly light. Of course, she bears cruel punishment for her act.
Women often succumb to temptation and voluptuousness in the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites ("Proserpina"). But there is also a reverse plot, where a man is the culprit of a woman's fall (as in the paintings "Marianne", "Awakened modesty").
Models
Basically, the artists chose relatives and relatives as models for their paintings. Rossetti often wrote with his mother and sister ("Youth of the Virgin Mary"), but also resorted to the services of his mistress Fanny ("Lucretia Borgia"). While Elizabeth, his beloved wife, was alive, female images got her face.
Effie Grey, wife of Millais and ex-husband of Ruskin, featured in the painting Release Order and John's portraits.
Annie Miller, Hunt's fiancée, posed for almost every artist in the fraternity. She is depicted on the canvases "Helen of Troy", "Awakened modesty", "Woman in yellow".
landscapes
Landscapes were painted only by some artists of this direction. They left the walls of the offices and worked in the open air. This helped the painters to catch everything to the last detail, their paintings became perfect.
The Pre-Raphaelites spent hours in nature, so as not to miss a single detail. This work required titanic patience and the ability to create. Probably, due to the peculiarities of the direction program, the landscape did not become as widespread as other genres.
The principles of drawing nature are most fully reflected in the paintings of Hunt's "English Shores" and Millet's "Autumn Leaves".
Decay
After several successful exhibitions, the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood began to fall apart. Their common love for the Middle Ages was not enough. Everyone was looking for their own way. Only Hunt remained true to the principles of this direction to the end.
Certainty came in 1853 when Millais received a membership of the Royal Academy. The brotherhood was finally broken up. Some have moved away from painting for a long time(for example, Rossetti took up writing).
Despite the actual cessation of existence, the Pre-Raphaelites acted as a direction for some more time. However, the manner of writing pictures and general principles somewhat distorted.
Late Pre-Raphaelites
Late stage artists include Simeon Solomon (the works reflected the essence of the aesthetic movement and homosexual motifs), Evelyn de Morgan (painted in mythological themes, for example, "Ariadne auf Naxos"), illustrator Henry Ford.
There are a number of other artists who were influenced by Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Photos of some of them often appeared in the British press. These are Sophie Anderson, Frank Dixie, John Godward, Edmund Leighton and others.
Meaning
Pre-Raphaelitism is called almost the first artistic direction England, which became famous all over the world. Every critic or layman has his own own opinion and the right to evaluate the work of painters. Undoubtedly, only one thing - this trend has penetrated into all spheres of society.
Now a lot of things are being rethought. New ones are being written scientific works, for example, "Pre-Raphaelites. Life and work in 500 paintings." Someone comes to the conclusion that the representatives of this trend became the forerunners of the symbolists. Someone talks about the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites on hippies and even John Tolkien.
Paintings by artists are exhibited in leading museums in Britain. Contrary to popular belief, Pre-Raphaelite paintings are not kept in the Hermitage. The exhibition of paintings was first shown in Russia in 2008 at the Tretyakov Gallery.
