Pre-Raphaelites: Realism Over Reynolds Essay

The age of enlightenment brought rationality, science and reason into the public sphere and embodied society with a wide-reaching philosophical view. These views also heavily influenced the world of art and aesthetics. Artists began to literally depict realism by using a technique called verisimilitude where the artist would use correct profiling, lighting and manipulation of geometric angles and shapes in order to reproduce nature with exactitude and accuracy (Fowler, 1989). Donatello’s ‘David’ embodies realistic proportions of the human male form without the swollen muscles and hyper-masculinity embodied within the Hellenistic period. ‘David’ showcases the fragility of the human form and its vulnerability. However, Donatello also adds the counterpoise of ‘David’s’ arrogant posture, his confidence and his mixture of gender traits (Allen, 2014). These traits all meld together in order to create a realistic sculpture that depicts the various realistic traits that make up a real human being. As the age of reason and science dawned during the 15th century, artists began to become increasingly concerned with depicting authentic human beings and emotions – devoid of the hyperbole and exaggeration found within the pre-Christian era (Fowler,

Post-Impressionism came about later in 19th century (1880-1890's) France. During that time, Edouard Vuillard, Pierre Bonnard, and Maurice Denis, members of a group of experimental artists known as the Nabis, played a significant role in the revival of decorative painting. Their experimentation with the arrangement of line and color was meant to function as a visual equivalent of nature without replicating its appearance. They also hoped to reassert the role of paint in decorating interior living spaces. Influenced by Impressionists use of color, yet pushing the appearance of nature, especially stressing high-keyed color, they developed bold new styles using innovative brushwork and emphasizing geometric shapes and figures. These techniques are known as Divisionism or Pointillism and they contrast significantly with the short, spontaneous canvases of Impressionism. Contributing to these developments were the likes of Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gaugin, and George Seurat. These techniques later influenced many abstract painters of the early 20th

The influence of Catholicism is easily observed upon brief inspection of Raphael’s Marriage of the Virgin. Classical Humanism, however, introduced to Raphael at an early age and reinforced by his studies under Perugino, also plays a major role in the composition. While, Catholicism provides the subject matter, genre, and purpose of the piece, Classical Humanism, provides the underlying principles that guide this beautiful painting. A beautiful

The Pre-Raphaelites were a seven rebellious artists in London who wanted to create new art. The pre-Raphaelites Brotherhood were; William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James Collinson, Frederic George Stephens and Thomas Woolner.They detested another artist’s work that, at the time went by the name Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino), hence the name Pre-Raphaelites. However, society in the Victorian period adored Raphael and his work and many other artists copied his style of art. This meant that people despised the Pre-Raphaelites work and they found it to be outrageous. In the Victorian era, artwork was based on religion and realism. People were painted like they wanted to look like

Art in the Medieval Times was dreary and bland. Many works of art were solely about God or holy figures. The most obvious change from the Renaissance to Medieval Times was the arts, according to Document A and also that “One begins to know the names of the artists ... feel stronger emotions in the subjects”. This shows that Renaissance art not only changed in style, in changed in how it made the viewer feel when seeing the art. Similarly, in Document A, Renaissance art is described as “new artistic styles would echo the broader movements and interests of the new age.…”. As compared to Medieval Times, the style of art became something similar to the time that people could relate to. In the Medieval Times, art was just meant to extol God’s many feats. People who viewed the painting were supposed to put that style of art on a pedestal. Medieval art was supposed to be worshipped, not so much understood. The individual in the Medieval Times was supposed to take away from the painting that the only thing that mattered in their life was the Roman Catholic church and God already had a plan for their lives. But in comparison, Renaissance art was supposed to empower and help people of the time to understand themselves and the fact that they can change their own lives.

Artistic rebels, the Pre-Raphaelites stood for the artist’s vision of the truth regardless of convention. They countered the industrialization and mechanization of their era with an organicism they found in the Medieval era. They also sought fidelity to the visible world, often achieved through scrupulously-rendered minute detail. Their elaborate,

The year is 1888. The setting is Paris, France. Art is as popular as it has always been and people are looking for new ways to express their artistic opinion. A question looms over the people as they begin to view some of these new, revolutionary styles of art. Is it truly art. To the common folk art may be whatever a person perceives as beautiful. But to the true artists, art is something more. The people deciding what is true art and what is simply splatter on a canvas is The Academy. They are the true artist, or at least they believe themselves to be. Other artist and critics believe these new waves of style and expression are far superior to the archaic traditional style of art that the academy is so fond of. However, The Academy is government

The effect of the French Revolution on painting has been a great work in the Revolutionary age which most of the artwork has shown over the years one of them is the painting of Jacques-Louis David and the other foremost painters Oath of the Horatio which has clearly shown that they are in support of the French Revolution, most of the Neoclassicists has always look back to "French painter Nicolas Poussin for their inspiration (Poussin's work exemplifies the interest in classicism in French art of the 17th century ). The decision to promote "Poussiniste" painting became an ethical consideration—they believed that strong drawing was rational, therefore morally better. They believed that art should be cerebral, not sensual.

Raphael created unique works of art during 1509-1511. In the Greek times, as I have read in my chapter readings that there were different values placed on different factors. For example, I learned of visual arts, I think the visual arts were used to depict certain feelings someone may have and that is there way of formal expression, through visual paintings or sculptures. I learned from watching the video that Raphael had created in arts of work in an intricate fashion. In some of the paintings that were shown in the video depicts, a gentleman sitting off to the side by himself appearing to be in either deep thought or just wants to isolate himself from the commotion that is

John Ruskin was not an architect by trade. However, he had a strong impact on architecture in Britain in more ways than any other architect of his time. Ruskin was an English art critic and social thinker, but he maintained a deep passion for architecture. Ruskin published many works on architecture, naturalism in art, and moral issues–his essays on art and architecture were especially influential in the Victorian period. Ruskin was born on February 8th, 1819 in London, England. He became very well known at a young age for his support of the works of J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). J.M.W. Turner was an English Romantic landscaper painter whose style of work was considered controversial: he believed in embracing the authentic forms of nature,

In the late seventeenth century, a dispute developed in Paris between two factions within the French Royal Academy known as the Poussinistes and Rubenistes. Inspired by the work of Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), the Poussinisties believed that artwork should primarily appeal to the mind and that consequently, the use of colour served only a decorative purpose. Such a view is consistent with a sense of elitism that can be identified within the works of Poussin. For example, the artist was a classicist who chose to represent historical figures in a noble and serious fashion, imploring viewers to "read" their emotions rather than allowing them to simply being impressed

“While we may term other works paintings, those of Raphael are living things; the flesh

Rewind roughly back to the 1860’s. Several apprentice painters, namely Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric Bazille learned that they did not share the same views of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. The Academy believed that mythological and historical scenes for painting was vastly superior to that of still life and landscape scenes. The Académie des Beaux-Arts would run an art show, the Salon de Paris, which was the only way for an artist during that time to gain prestige, commissions, and of course money. The Salon would only accept paintings which were in their approved style, which was based on the art of the old masters. Since the art of these young painters did not conform to the standards put forth by the Académie des Beaux-Arts, their art was mostly rejected until Emperor Napoleon III settled to allow the public to judge the submitted art themselves. The Salon des Refusés was created just for this purpose. The results of the new Salon were such; “While many viewers came only to laugh, the Salon des Refusés drew attention to the existence of a new tendency in art and attracted more visitors than the regular Salon.” (Denvir, pg. 194). Louis Leroy wrote a disparaging review on Monet’s work, “Impression, Sunrise”. He suggested that Monet’s painting was a sketch, and it could not be called a finished work. This was where the Impressionists acquired their name. Yet even though their

The name Pre-Raphaelite came from their opposition of the academy’s promotion of the Renaissance painter Raphael. Other inspirations came from art critic John Ruskin’s encouragement to ‘go to nature’, believing art to be a serious subject that should be treated with maximum realism and truth.

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded by John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and William Holman Hunt who were students at the Royal Academy. Millais, Rossetti, and Hunt were dissatisfied with the academy teaching students to mimic renaissance masters like Raphael, and sought to create art reminiscent of the medieval period. In addition for their distaste for renaissance perfection in art the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were inspired by the theories of writer and art critic, John Ruskin. Ruskin encouraged artist to go back to nature, as well as show moral and material truth in their art via the use of symbols and more naturalistic depictions of nature (Harrison, Wood and Gaiger, 200). “The Brotherhood at its inception strove to transmit a message of artistic renewal and moral reform by imbuing their art with seriousness, sincerity, and truth to nature.”(Meagher) From Millais I will focus on one of his more famous paintings Ophelia, followed by Rossetti’s Proserpine, and Hunt’s Awakening Conscience.