Combining rebellion, beauty, scientific precision and imaginative grandeur, the Pre-Raphaelites constitute Britain’s first modern art movement. In 1848, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, led by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, rebelled against the art establishment of the mid-19th century. Their adoption of the name Pre-Raphaelite expressed their admiration for what they saw as the direct and uncomplicated depiction of nature typical of Italian painting before the High Renaissance, particularly before the time of Raphael.

They painted brightly-coloured, evenly-lit scenes with a particular emphasis on romanticism, elaborate details, medieval history, symbolism and nature.

Eminent art critic and social thinker John Ruskin particularly admired the Pre-Raphaelites’ significant innovations to English landscape painting, their dedication to working en plein air, strict botanical accuracy and minute details. Although the Brotherhood’s active life lasted just about five years, its influence on painting in Britain and ultimately on the decorative arts and interior design, was profound. — S.A.