Post by Ainsworth on Nov 17, 2018 3:57:09 GMT
The Right-Wing Strain in the Pre-Raphaelite Movement
The lasting impact of the Pre-Raphaelite Movement was likely the renewed interest in medieval themes, settings, events, and legends that they sparked in the public. It bolstered public interest in Arthurian legend, and likely inspired a young J. R. R. Tolkien.
The Pre-Raphaelites are now often described as youthful rebels who thumbed their noses at a stuffy and decrepit British art establishment, but simultaneously they were themselves considered repressed and limited by modernists 50 years after their formation and dissolution. Any such description of the Pre-Raphaelites as iconoclastic revolutionaries must be then taken with a considerable grain of salt, as it is generally standard practice to cast virtually every movement that has any impact on society in such a way in this current era.
The Pre-Raphaelites were not depicting British folklore and biblical canon in an ironic or mocking way. They were reviving it and examining it with an even more powerful lens for a new generation. They were regarded as iconoclastic at first, but I believe that any cursory glance at the overall movement will show that this isn't the case. It was a distinctly English movement that helped to preserve appreciation for the medieval, and is worth examination.
Christ in the House of His Parents
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood formed in England right in the mid-point of the 19th century. They were a group of young artists that were dissatisfied with the school of art that descended from Raphael and Michelangelo, who desired to return to a more fundamental and older set of practices whose potential had been stifled by the dominance of the Raphaelites. Their work primarily depicted Arthurian legend, scenes from Shakespeare, biblical events and figures, and Greek gods. The formal Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood did not survive the 1850s, but it's former members and admirers carried on the principals of the original group into the 20th century, dedicated to a realistic depiction of forms even while the mainstream of western art became less and less representational, and more and more abstract.
The lasting impact of the Pre-Raphaelite Movement was likely the renewed interest in medieval themes, settings, events, and legends that they sparked in the public. It bolstered public interest in Arthurian legend, and likely inspired a young J. R. R. Tolkien.
The Pre-Raphaelites are now often described as youthful rebels who thumbed their noses at a stuffy and decrepit British art establishment, but simultaneously they were themselves considered repressed and limited by modernists 50 years after their formation and dissolution. Any such description of the Pre-Raphaelites as iconoclastic revolutionaries must be then taken with a considerable grain of salt, as it is generally standard practice to cast virtually every movement that has any impact on society in such a way in this current era.
The Pre-Raphaelites were not depicting British folklore and biblical canon in an ironic or mocking way. They were reviving it and examining it with an even more powerful lens for a new generation. They were regarded as iconoclastic at first, but I believe that any cursory glance at the overall movement will show that this isn't the case. It was a distinctly English movement that helped to preserve appreciation for the medieval, and is worth examination.
Christ in the House of His Parents
John Everett Millais
1849–50
1849–50
At the time of its introduction, “Christ in the House of His Parents” was considered blasphemous by many, the dedicated realism being perceived as ugly. Christ’s toenails being long, yellowed, and unkempt, his parents carpenter’s workshop dirty and humble, wood shavings discarded on the floor. However, a much truer interpretation and one much closer to Millais’ intentions would be that of the sacrifice Christ made merely by becoming a man, giving up his divine existence for the lower, dirtier, and flawed existence of the world.
The composition is very powerful, two figures flanking the mother and son on either side, two figures hovering over them. It's almost as though Christ is the sun, and the members of his Earthly family the various planets revolving around him. I might be reading too much into it, but it also seems to mirror the scene in the manger. His family don't appear worried so much as intimidated by his presence, possibly having some vague sense of his significance and his future.
The painting is replete with Christian symbolism.
The boy to the right is John the Baptist as a youth. Fittingly, he is bringing a small tub of water to wash the wound. The ladder in the back represents Jacobs Ladder, the dove the Holy Spirit. The sheep outside of the workshop represent the flock the young Christ is to assemble. The young assistant to the left represents his future apostles.
The aspect of the painting that is difficult for me to understand is Mary offering her cheek for a kiss as opposed to kissing Jesus on the cheek, as you would expect a mother to do when her child has been hurt. Instead, it's the opposite. The only link that comes to my mind is Judas Iscariot, but he was not kissed by Christ, he kissed Christ. Regardless, it's a very compelling painting.
The painting is replete with Christian symbolism.
The boy to the right is John the Baptist as a youth. Fittingly, he is bringing a small tub of water to wash the wound. The ladder in the back represents Jacobs Ladder, the dove the Holy Spirit. The sheep outside of the workshop represent the flock the young Christ is to assemble. The young assistant to the left represents his future apostles.
The aspect of the painting that is difficult for me to understand is Mary offering her cheek for a kiss as opposed to kissing Jesus on the cheek, as you would expect a mother to do when her child has been hurt. Instead, it's the opposite. The only link that comes to my mind is Judas Iscariot, but he was not kissed by Christ, he kissed Christ. Regardless, it's a very compelling painting.
Mariana
John Everett Millais
1850–1851
An interpretation of the piece that carries significant relevance to contemporary issues is that of the unfulfilled working woman. The woman with nothing other than whatever career she is involved in to give her meaning. A woman without a family, with no domestic company other than a mouse. Replace the mouse with a cat, and this medieval grange could easily be a cosmopolitan apartment. A woman without proper guidance from a man, wasting away.John Everett Millais
1850–1851
A depiction of Mariana from Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure." In the play, Mariana was set to be wed, but lost her dowry in a ship wreck. As a result, her husband to be ignored her for another woman. She is kept in a grange behind a moat. She rises from her chair to stretch her back after hours of busywork. She looks out the window wistfully, yearning for her beloved.
Ophelia
John Everett Millais
1851–1852
John Everett Millais
1851–1852
Another scene from Shakespeare. The tragic heroine and potential bride of Hamlet in the play of the same name. When Hamlet kills her father, Polonius, she falls into despair. As she's climbing a tree to pick flowers, she falls off a branch and into the river. Delirious from grief, Ophelia is carried by the current and ultimately drowns while she sings to herself. A recurring theme in the work of the Pre-Raphaelites seems to be women walking down the wrong path, typically due to an abdication of masculine responsibility or a flawed attempt to fulfill it.
La Mort d'Arthur (The Death of King Arthur)
James Archer
1860
This is a very active painting that leaves some content for the imagination. King Arthur has just died, the four women around him in mourning. It seems like Merlin and one of the great king's acolytes are having some kind of argument. Maybe she's informing him of his passing. Maybe she's blaming Merlin for not saving him with his magic. In the upper right is a figure that could be easily missed. It seems to be angel, clutching the Holy Grail. King Arthur's gaze is fixed directly at the apparition. It seems likely that his last sight was the grail, just barely out of reach. Racing to the shore is a boat carrying the remedy to Arthur's injuries from the Isle of Avalon, but too late.
A rich episode from British folklore, well rendered.
A rich episode from British folklore, well rendered.
The Accolade
Edmund Leighton
1901
The most recognizable of Pre-Raphaelite paintings alongside Ophelia, this work is synonymous with chivalry and the medieval ideal. It shows the accolade, a medieval ceremony to bestow a knighthood. If you've read any medieval fantasy, or seen any medieval historical dramas, you almost certainly recognize this ceremony.
A young queen bestows a similarly young man with his knighthood, tapping his shoulder with the flat of the blade. In the back, a young boy, likely a squire, looks on in awe and likely anticipation for the day when he too will granted his knighthood in his own ceremony. His presence establishes the concept of inherited tradition in the painting. To his left is what is likely an older knight. Three generations of knights are represented. The old veteran, the young knight, and the knight-to-be.
The fact that it is a young queen knighting him and not a king is likely significant. It's possible the choice is meant to convey that men ultimately establish systems and go to war for women, or maybe she is meant to be an angelic figure.
An extremely iconic painting.
The Pre-Raphaelite movement can inform us on an integral piece of English cultural history and folkloric memory. It is rich in imagery of ideal chivalry, the consequences of insufficient male leadership of women, a revitalization of biblical depictions, and the preservation of representative art even as European art was moving towards abstraction. It fosters an appreciation of our medieval past, allowing us to carry at least a piece of it into our future. My short essay only scratches the surface of the meaning of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, so I would encourage you to inspect it for yourself and see what you find.
Thank you for taking the time to read this essay.
A young queen bestows a similarly young man with his knighthood, tapping his shoulder with the flat of the blade. In the back, a young boy, likely a squire, looks on in awe and likely anticipation for the day when he too will granted his knighthood in his own ceremony. His presence establishes the concept of inherited tradition in the painting. To his left is what is likely an older knight. Three generations of knights are represented. The old veteran, the young knight, and the knight-to-be.
The fact that it is a young queen knighting him and not a king is likely significant. It's possible the choice is meant to convey that men ultimately establish systems and go to war for women, or maybe she is meant to be an angelic figure.
An extremely iconic painting.
The Pre-Raphaelite movement can inform us on an integral piece of English cultural history and folkloric memory. It is rich in imagery of ideal chivalry, the consequences of insufficient male leadership of women, a revitalization of biblical depictions, and the preservation of representative art even as European art was moving towards abstraction. It fosters an appreciation of our medieval past, allowing us to carry at least a piece of it into our future. My short essay only scratches the surface of the meaning of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, so I would encourage you to inspect it for yourself and see what you find.
Thank you for taking the time to read this essay.
