The Pre-Raphaelites 

The Pre-Raphaelites were formed in the Autumn of 1848 in England, they were a group of nineteenth century painters, poets and critics who had reacted against the contemporary Victorian trend towards materialism and against the Neoclassicism conventions of Academic Art. The group was made up of seven young men who's names were Rossetti, his brother William, James Collinson, the sculptor Thomas Woolner, Hunt and John Millais.  The Pre-Raphaelites turned to the middle ages ''before Raphael ' for inspiration. Their subjects were mostly primarily drawn from literature, the bible, Shakespeare and poets from their own age. The Pre-Raphaelites aims were to paint the natural world and depiction of subjects such as moral issues of justice, piety, familial relationships and the struggle of purity against corruption for the viewer to contemplate. The characteristics of the Pre-Raphaelites works were usually with archaizing compositions, intense sharp focus and absence of shadows. 

A painting done by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the model was his mistress Fanny Cornforth. 

Lady Lilith, 1867. 

Heilbrunn timeline of art history, 2013. Metmuseum. [online] Available at: <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/praf/hd_praf.htm>

[Accessed 21st April 2013]

PRB , 2013. Pre-Raphaelite Art information. [online] Available at <http://www.preraph.org/>

[Accessed 21st April 2013]

TW, 2013. Toffs World. [online] Available at <http://toffsworld.com/lifestyle/art-information/pre-raphaelites/#>

[Accessed 21st April 2013]