Séance 4 Flashcards
Who were the 3 most famous members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood?
John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti
What was the age of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood members when they founded the group?
In their early 20s
What did the abbreviation ‘PRB’ mean to some people?
Please Ring the Bell
What did the Pre-Raphaelites study to inform their paintings?
Engravings before the age of Raphael
What was the aim of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood?
To take art out of the Establishment and give it back to the people
What themes were the Pre-Raphaelites attracted to in their paintings?
- Love
- Death
- History
- Myths & Legends
- Religion
- Morality
- Psychological Drama
What is significant about Millais’s painting ‘Lorenzo & Isabella’?
It was the 1st time the PRB monogram appeared on a canvas
What societal context influenced the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 England?
The Industrial Revolution was in full swing, causing social change and issues like overcrowding and high infant mortality
What contemporary issue did the Pre-Raphaelites address in their work?
The surge in prostitution in London
What does ‘The Awakening Conscience’ by William Holman Hunt depict?
A kept mistress realizing her life should change to avoid common prostitution
Explain the Pre-Raphaelites’ ambivalent representation of women.
They painted strong, sensual women with psychological depth, but also depicted vulnerable women and dangerous beings
What is the subject of Millais’s painting of Ophelia?
Ophelia drowning after learning Hamlet killed her father
What technique did the Pre-Raphaelites use to achieve luminous colors?
Primed canvases with white paint and painted while it was still wet
How did Elizabeth Siddal pose for Millais’s ‘Ophelia’?
In a cold bath with a heavy antique wedding dress
How old was Elizabeth Siddal when she posed for ‘Ophelia’?
22
What character traits made Elizabeth Siddal not fit the ideal Victorian beauty?
- Tall and willowy
- Red hair
- Refused to wear a corset
- Made her own clothes
What was laudanum?
A cure-all made from poppy seeds, similar to opium
What tragic event occurred shortly after Elizabeth Siddal’s marriage to Rossetti?
She gave birth to a dead child and took a lethal dose of laudanum
What detail in ‘Ophelia’ foreshadowed Siddal’s tragic end?
The poppy on the canvas
What significant achievement did Siddal accomplish in 1857?
She was the only woman artist to participate in the Pre-Raphaelite show
