In Victorian England, with the country swept up in the Industrial Revolution, the Pre-Raphaelites, close to William Morris’ Arts and Crafts movement, yearned for a return to bygone values. Wishing to revive the pure and noble forms of the Italian Renaissance, the major painters of the circle (such as John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt) favoured realism and biblical themes over the academicism of the time. This work, with its captivating text and rich illustrations, describes with enthusiasm this singular movement which notably inspired Art Nouveau and Symbolism.


About the author:
The essayist Robert de la Sizeranne, the notable author of Mornings in Florence, Simple Studies of Christian Art, retraces the epic movement that was Pre-Raphaelism, aided by a rich selection of documentation. This text explores everything from its origins to its characteristics, and offers a remarkable presentation of the masters of the Brotherhood. Amongst the author’s successes are included the works John Ruskin, Religion and Beauty and Art during the War, 1914-1918.