The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of three: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, & John Everett Millais all in their early 20's. Another four joined them later. They are roughly mid-19th c. (1850's onward) artists working in the wake of the Oxford Movement. They appreciated Raphael but not the attempt to mechanize his methods and style as if it was the only form of acceptable painting, i.e. the "Raphaelites," which they responded to by trying to go back to the form or spirit of Raphael rather than his mechanization, thus "Pre-Raphaelites."
They coupled a renaissance attention to detail with a medieval love of brilliant colour. At the same time they rejected the rising Rationalism of their day known through the Raphaelites in favor of the Medieval sense of Truth with a devotion to it. However, their paintings are much like their personal lives, beginning religious and increasingly becoming secular. Many were children to Catholics or high church Anglicans, raised in those traditions, shaped by their aesthetic sense, but not fostered enough in their adult life. Whether one was "religious" or not at this time, England had enough remnant Christian influence through Catholic and Anglican history so as to influence these painters. You may also recognize the name Rossetti, his sister Christina wrote the hymn "In the Bleak Midwinter" as well as the children's poem "Goblin Market."
John Millais (1829-1896)
He was the youngest student to ever enter the Royal Academy Schools - at the age of 11. He surpassed his fellow students and became the star of the art school. He later developed a different style that can be seen in his self-portrait to the left. His Pre-Raphaelite stage is below. The Pre-Raphaelites found a philosophical defence for their movement from a poet named John Ruskin. Ruskin foresaw the negative effect the Industrial Revolution would have on art. Rather than mass production bringing great art to the people, he foresaw the revolution would abstract man from nature and subvert leisure into a feverish work, such that the necessary conditions for a society to produce a good artist, and thereby art, would dissipate. After 6 years of non-consummation between Ruskin and his 'wife' Effie, she filed for an annulment. After sitting for some of Millais's paintings, Effie and Millais fell in love. The two were married soon after. She had a profound effect on his life and work.
Christ in the House of his Parents 'The Carpenter Shop,' 1851 * This is the first and perhaps most famous of the Pre-Raphaelite works that set Britain ablaze with critics, the most famous of which was Charles Dickens the novelist. Mary, in this painting, was called "ugly." The dirt and blood and vein details were thought too gritty for art depicting sacred content.
John Henry Newman, 1881
This portrait is used more than almost any other photo or painting for Bl. John Cardinal Henry Newman. S. Newman is considered a sort of 'Forerunner of the Ordinariate,' likened to how S. John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ. He is the most famous Anglican convert to Catholicism and perhaps the most intelligent man to live since S. Thomas Aquinas. His work on the Conscience and on Development of Doctrine have been enormously clarifying and developing the doctrine of the Church in the past century and a half.
People may recognize a more pop reference to him in Brave New World, where Huxley the author has the 'World Designer,' a sort of rationalist social engineer type, read an excerpt of S. Newman to the protagonist near the end of the book. They refer to S. Newman's reference to our being created as necessarily implying we 'do not own ourselves.' If we don't own ourselves then presumably a lot of my body, my choice, or my choice my rights rhetoric falls apart. The World Designer sees the "problem" of this understanding of God as ultimately against the fundamental axiom of Secular Humanism, so he tells the Protagonist 'we couldn't live like that, so we made this [the Brave New World.]' S. Newman was unapologetically against Classical Liberalism in Theology and was sometimes considered heterodox by his own peers at the time. His canonization and inclusion of some of his works in the Catholic Catechism have vindicated him.
Eve of St. Agnes, 1863
* Based on a Keats poem which is based on an old folk superstition that a young lady could see her future husband if she performed a series of rites on First Evensong (Eve) of St. Agnes' Feast day.
Vale of Rest, 1858
* The Oxford Movement helped cultivate Anglican sisterhoods but many also became Catholic. These seem to be Catholic.
Esther, 1865
* From The Book of Esther.
Mariana, 1851
Many Pre-Raphaelites depicted medieval scenes from Tennyson's work. This one is from a line of his poetry:
She only said, ‘My life is dreary,
He cometh not,’ she said:
She said, “I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!’
But Tennyson's Mariana is inspired by Shakespeare's character from the play Measure by Measure. What you are seeing here is a tradition, something long, superfluous, commentary upon commentary, building up and out, reaching from literature to poetry to art, yet all with a similar theme. While some of the Pre-Raphaelites claim to reject 'inherited tradition,' it was the mechanized, industrial one which had no life in it that they did not like. Their response artistically was to pull from a tradition of art, not to do away with all inheritance altogether, simply the one they received that seemed to depart from the strand of tradition it should have continued! In this sense, they are an important corrective in the path of Art. If there is an "art" for the Modern era, it would be them.
Ophelia, 1851-1852
William Holman Hunt (1827-1910)
Hunt was baptized an Anglican and had special ties to St. Paul's Cathedral London [pic] and to St. Mark's English Church in Florence, Italy [pic]. When his wife died he purchased a chalice to be used at The Holy Eucharist with her name inscribed on it. His work "Light of the World" was put into Keble College, Oxford and he he even painted a copy in his 70's to be placed in the main chapel of St. Paul's. He is buried there. He made multiple trips to The Holy Land to better his detail and accuracy (e.g. Christ and Two Marys or Scapegoat) but wasn't so Rationalistic as to think that precluded the use of Biblical imagery and Medieval metaphor. He seems to have been something of a character, a smart aleck, and one of the few Pre-Raphaelites who stuck to the style till his death. His 1867 self-portrait is on the left.
The Light of the World, 1851-53
* A famous piece based on Revelation 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." Christ comes like a thief in the night, yet also like a stranger seeking refuge. The home signifies our person, whether we'll open to him. Christ's nimbus [halo] doubles as the moon for the dark wood (perhaps a reference to Dante who begins in a dark wood in Inferno). Christ carries a lantern signifying he is the Light of the World and that the World is a dark vale after the Fall. You'll see this one in St. Benedict Hall at Saint Aelred Catholic Church.
Finding the Saviour in the Temple [Luke 2:41-52], 1854-60
Hunt's obsession with accuracy of Eastern garb is seen here. We see Ss. Joseph & Mary embracing the Christ boy after finding him. The Pharisees & Scribes fill the Temple. Some look at him in wonder, for his questions and answeres astounded them, especially since Christ was only 12 when this episode occurred and he knew so much about the Law. The high priest sitting down, old, dying, clutching the Torah shows their inability to see the Torah pointed outside itself, to the Logos made flesh, and was not a thing unto itself (Solo Scriptura).
Christ and Two Marys, 1847
The Resurrected Christ appears to his mother Mary and Mary Magdalene. He is still casting off the fair linens that covered his body. He is in S. Joseph of Arimathea's garden, right outside the tomb. His wounds are still visible and the dark, ominous clouds are departing (perhaps a Good Friday reference). Jerusalem can be seen in the background and the lush green life reflects the renewal of the life of Christ. His full-body nimbus [halo] is also called a "mandorla." This one is the rainbow, a sign of God's Covenant with Noah. Christ is depicted as the New Noah, a sign that rather than wiping out Man, God himself in Christ, came to redeem man. The Resurrection here is thus depicted as fulfilling the Noahic Covenant. Hunt began this in 1847 when he was still an atheist. He thought he could not do it justice and laid it aside for 50 years before returning to it as a man who believed in Christ (in some shape or form).
The Scapegoat, 1854-56
[An excerpt from Hunt's autobiography on this piece. This is the Scapegoat from Leviticus 16, which allows John the Baptist to call Jesus the "Lamb of God" and for the Crucifixion and thus The Mass to be considered the New Day of Atonement]
Gambart, the picture-dealer, was ever shrewd and entertaining. He came in his turn to my studio, and I led him to The Scapegoat. "What do you call that?" "The Scapegoat." "Yes; but what is it doing?" "You will understand by the title, Le bouc expiatoire." "But why expiatoire?" he asked. "Well, there is a book called the Bible, which gives an account of the animal. You will remember." "No," he replied, "I never heard of it." "Ah, I forgot, the book is not known in France, but English people read it more or less..."
Here we see a witty remark about the English-speaking tendency to read Scripture rather than reading the proliferation of devotional works so characteristic of Continental Catholicism. It also highlights the English speaking tendency, whether in the UK or in America, to take jabs at the French like a brother. The penchant is why so many Protestants, being break-offs from the English Reformation and still having their minds shaped by some form of English-speaking Christianity, tend to be about bible studies, "reading your bible," feeling like you're supposed to read it before you die, etc. This is all English Catholicism strained through Anglicanism that is still felt in many of the 48,000 denominations. The witty, humorous mode of discussing religion is also a very English-speaking thing one can see in the development of comedy in English with writers like Swift, but also religious authors later like GK Chesterton.
The Shadow of Death, 1870-73
Jewish men weren't considered men until the age of 30. We see Christ leaving Mary at this age to begin his public ministry in the Gospel. By the time of the Wedding at Cana, he's already gone. Here we see a young man Christ still working at home as a carpenter. His shadow is the shape of the crucifixion and his carpenter tools, a hint at the wood that would be his torture device, lies behind the shadow. An old English legend recounts how a pillar of wood from the temple was buried, uncovered by the Romans, sent to Joseph and Christ, and how Jesus as a boy prepared the wood that one day he would hang from. The red ribbon by his feet recalls the ribbon the scapegoat that goes to Azazel (the Devil) wears (Leviticus 16) at the Day of Atonement when the two lambs are slain to reconcile Israel to God thereby restoring friendship. The Cross is the new Day of Atonement. Mary is seen looking at the shadow that is a foreshadow of Jesus' death, a sign of her pondering in her heart one of the Seven Sorrows. The star in the window recounts the Three Kings, the Magi, who came to adore him as a child.
Isabella, or the Basil Pot, 1818 * Based on a Keats poem where a young woman's love is killed and she finds his head in a basil pot, which in turn is based on an older, famous tale set in the 14th c. during the black plagues called Decameron. Pleasant.
The Lady of Shalott, 1905
* Based on Tennyson's poems of Arthurian legend, a common medieval trope for the Pre-Raphaelites. Lots of artists painted this lady.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
A lover of his namesake Dante Aligheri, as well as St. Thomas Malory's L'Morte D'Arthur he based many of his paintings on Medieval themes. He was as much a poet as an artist. As a boy of 15 he saw the effects of the Oxford Movement on the Anglican Church his family frequented. As his life progressed he seemed to fall into drug abuse and then lost his wife from an overdose. He moved away and filled his home with eccentric pets like wombats or toucans that wore cowboy hats and rode llamas around his dining room. He is buried at All Saints [pic] in Birchington, Kent. His 1847 self-portrait is on the left.
Ecce Ancilla Domini (Behold the Handmaid of the Lord), 1850 * This was his first big release as part of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Critics called his angel "Insipidity itself." This depicts the Annunciation from Luke, where S. Gabriel comes to S. Mary, they dialogue, the Holy Ghost overshadows her, and the Incarnation occurs. The title can be heard at the Angelus prayer that prefaces every midday Mass at Saint Aelred Catholic Church.
The Tune of the Seven Towers, 1857
A scene from one of William Morris' poems. It seems to be about a tower used for aristocratic prisoners at Constantinople. It seems eerily lonely and sorrowful: I am unhappy now,
I cannot tell you why;
If you go, the priests and I in a row
Will pray that you may not die.
'Listen I' said fair Yoland of the flowers,'
This is the tune of Seven Towers.'
If you will go for me now,
I will kiss your mouth at last;
[She sayeth inwardly.]
(The graves stand grey in a row,)
Oliver, hold me fast!
Therefore,' said fair Yoland of the flowers,
'This is the tune of Seven Towers.'
The Girlhood of Mary Virgin, 1849
* His mother sat for St. Anne, his sister Christina for St. Mary. The scene depicts St. Anne, mother of Our Lady, teaching her child how to sew. Palms lie on the ground, a reference to Palm Sunday, in which coats and jackets are thrown down that Christ's donkey might ride in style into Jerusalem as the True King. A child-like angel seems to be watering the lily, a sign of Our Lady. The stack of books has the virtues written in Latin, but there are only six rather than seven. Joachim is in the background tending his vine, a referent to Christ saying "My father is a vinedresser," suggesting layers of puns and meaning. Christ had said this about God the Father but here the suggestion is Joachim as father to Mary is also something of a vinedresser who prepares the Vine, Jesus, by raising Mary. The dove with mandorla [fully body nimbus] shows it is the Holy Ghost. Next to the dove, between Joseph and Mary is a cross, lightly drawn, with vines growing all over it a foreshadow of the Cross for Mary. The vine has not yet bloomed its fruit because neither has Mary given birth to her fruit, Christ, and neither has Christ been resurrected after death as the "first fruits" of the New Man. The veil half pulled back suggests mystery, the cross revealed and yet the veil has not yet torn asunder as it does at the Crucifixion. The presence of a father by the cross [son] and the dove [Holy Ghost] is a reference to The Holy Trinity.
How Sir Galahad. Sir Bors, and Sir Percival were fed with the Sanc Grael; But Sir Percival's Sister Died Along the Way, 1864
This scene is from one of the most famous Arthurian Cycles, Le Morte d'Arthur (The Death of Arthur) written by Sir Thomas Mallory, an old English cleric. anc Grael' means the Sacred Grail, ie the Holy Grail. Sanctus or sacred are from Latin, Holy is from the Anglo-Saxon and/or Germanic tongue. The Holy Grail was said to have been given to S. Joseph of Arimathea by the Resurrected Christ. S. Joseph of Arimathea was Jesus' great-uncle, S. Mary's uncle. S. Joseph brought it to England and made a shrine whose remains are still in England and date to 63 AD, a shrine to Our Lady (being his niece!). The three knights partake of of the Holy Grail while Percival's sister gave her blood to heal a woman who could only be healed by the blood of a virgin. Her body lies on the ground at the feet of the three knights. Lancelot is forbidden to receive the chalice [eucharist theology here] due to his adultery with Guinevere, Arthur's wife.
Proserpine, 1874
AKA "Persephone," the Greek goddess of vegetation, new life, and queen of the Underworld. She was kidnapped by Hades and brought to the Land of the Dead. There she refused to eat and perpetually mourned. Meanwhile back on earth, Persephone's mother Demeter, goddess of fertility and harvest mourned and refused to let Spring come. The whole earth and people cried out that all would die so Hades agreed to release her. However, he craftily offered her some pomegranates to eat before she left, and she ate three of its seeds. This bound her to return to him for three months out of the year, in which the land dies, i.e. Winter.
