Pre-Raphaelites

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood started off as a secret society of radical English artists, founded in London in 1848 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt. The group had links to the critic John Ruskin, and after the initial Brotherhood disbanded, other artists became associated with the name, including William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, Evelyn De Morgan, Emma Sandys, Frederick Sandys and Ford Madox Brown.

The Pre-Raphaelites were anti-establishment radicals, but their artistic ideas were drawn from their fierce opposition to the Royal Academy's teachings of the time, which prized the works of the Renaissance above all, particularly Raphael. The Brotherhood rejected these principles, instead looking to what had gone before (hence Pre-Raphaelite). They explored literary and mythological themes and produced highly realistic works.

Today, the Pre-Raphaelite artists are highly popular. Their works are much loved for their vibrant colour, romance and drama. You can choose from a selection of their paintings, available to own as framed or unframed prints.