The Pre-Raphaelites and mid-Victorian art

Brought to you by Smarthistory. In 1848, a small group of young artists banded together and formed “The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,” a name which sounds intentionally backward-looking and medieval. The Pre-Raphaelites looked back to art before the time of Raphael (before about 1500 that is)—before the art of the Renaissance was reduced to formulas followed for centuries by artists associated with