Pre-Raphaelites Prints Collection

Print Collections > Pre-Raphaelites

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was an association of young English painters formed in London - 1848. Its founding members were Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

The Pre-Raphaelites painted with objective truthfulness and genuine ideas in sympathy with what was direct and heartfelt in the art of the past, initially turning to the Bible and classical mythology for inspiration, they also went on to paint subjects inspired by literature, poetry, love, death and the social problems of their time.

Setting out to emulate the work of the great Italian artists that pre-dated Raphael (the Renaissance), the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood made meticulous studies of the colours found in nature, reproducing them brightly and with fabulous detail. They also went to inordinate lengths to find accurate information and models for the settings and figures in their paintings.

The Brotherhood lasted for little more than a decade, but in that short time gave new direction to Victorian artists that lasted well into the 20th century.