The rebellion of the PRB

THE REBELLION OF THE Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

Written and illustrated by Ella Warren, Arts Editor

When we think of rebelling against the system, we tend to think of political dissent from a corrupt governmental body. For example, we might think of the counterculture protests of the ‘60s, which rejected old cultural standards in favor of race relations, sexuality, women’s rights, and self-expression. These issues are memorable because they’ve been highly politicized and affect all areas of life. But long before modern generations were bringing the good fight to the man, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was doing the same thing in their own way. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, traditionally dubbed the PRB, consists of a group of Victorian artists and authors who banded together in 1848 in rejection of the period’s aesthetic ideals.1 At the time, the Royal Academy of Arts had decided that Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, more commonly known as Raphael,

was an artistic genius.2 This meant that a large community of European Victorian artists were instructed to create work reminiscent of Raphael’s iconic style. Nonetheless, the masters of the PRB found Raphael’s style to be bland and artificial. So, as any unconventional artist does, they rebelled against the dominant ideology of the century and forged a way that was more sincere and true to nature.

The Royal Academy upheld that it was the artist’s job to make aesthetic improvements to the commonplace in order to perfect human grandeur in art. The Pre-Raphaelites, on the other hand, sought a return to the natural scene through their hyper-realistic compositions, elaborate attention to detail, intense color schemes, and honest depictions of people. The PRB portrayed their characters as they truly were, rather than creating overly-romanticized versions. In John Everett Millais’ “Ophelia,” for example, the viewer is confronted by a pale young woman, secluded in a lush, opulent forest full of ornate details as the girl gives in to her dying breath. Though the girl lies dying, “Ophelia” lives on for its eerie yet enchanting exploration of youth

and mortality. It survives not only as one of the Brotherhood’s most famous works to date, but as one of the best-known pieces of the 19th century, as this work embodies the “zeitgeist of the era” as well as the PRB’s accomplishment of breathing timelessness into art.3

Fronted by Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and William Holman Hunt,

the PRB was composed of men and women alike, including a wide and eclectic range of painters, authors, poets, illustrators and designers.4 Rather than idolizing their subject matter as Raphael and the Neoplatonists did, the PreRaphaelites drew inspiration from Renaissance art, Biblical figures and the various muses and models who consistently appeared throughout this body of artwork.5 In fact, Rossetti and Jane Burden Morris more or less revolutionized our idea of “the angel.” When one thinks of Pre-Raphaelite art, it is common to think of Rosetti’s “Proserpine,” featuring a young portrayal of the Greco-Roman Goddess Proserpine, or Persephone, as is more commonly heard. Modeled after the Arts & Crafts artist Jane Morris, Proserpine’s features gradually became the new prototype for Victorian art.6

In the past, angelic characters in art had been depicted with golden tresses of hair and perfect symmetry. However, Proserpine appears with dark red curls and androgynous looking features, something that was viewed by much of mainstream

AS ANY UNCONVENTIONAL ARTIST DOES, THEY REBELLED AGAINST THE DOMINANT IDEOLOGY OF THE CENTURY AND FORGED A WAY THAT WAS MORE SINCERE AND TRUE TO NATURE.

1 Dinah Roe, “The Pre-Raphaelites,” The British Library, May 15, 2014. 2 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Raphael,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, April 2, 2020. 3 Balasz Takac, “Why We Love the Ophelia Painting by Sir John Everett Millais,” Widewalls, March 31, 2019. 4 Dinah Roe, “The Pre-Raphaelites,” The British Library, May 15, 2014. 5 Ibid. 6 Roger Homan, “Jane Burden: How a Pre-Raphaelite model changed our image of angels,” The Social Affairs Unit, October 14, 2005.

society as undesireable.7 Moreover, this look, based on Morris’ unusually striking features, became the standard for Pre-Raphaelite artwork and caused a great deal of controversy in the sophisticates’ community. The PRB and its vision for bringing back a more authentic voice in art was considered radical for the time. In 1850, renowned author Charles Dickens voiced a strong opinion about Millais’ “Christ in the House of His Parents,” stating that the painting was “hideous” and that the Virgin Mary bore likeness to a “Monster.”8

7 Ibid. 8 John Simkin, “Pre-Raphaelite BrotherThe more authentic and natural redheaded depiction of the Virgin Mary— and other angels and characters alike—in Pre-Raphaelite art was widely criticized and gawked at. However, this opposition did not put an end to the PRB’s creative brilliance, and neither should any social standards ever stifle our own passions and pursuit of the unconventional. During a time when beauty and goodness was defined through perfection, and any “good” artist was expected to conform to these strict standards, the PRB rebelled.

hood,” Spartacus Educational, September 1997. This rebellion expanded upon and forever transformed society’s notions of beauty by returning to the unique and idiosyncratic imagery of nature. Perhaps it is time for our society to return to our roots, celebrating the beauty found in the natural world and in each other, rather than suppressing it. Perhaps then we could facilitate a more peaceful and harmonious community, instead of one segregated by appearances, classes, political agreements and arbitrary differences overall. ■