HON 205 The Pre-Raphaelite Circle

The Pre-Raphaelites were a group of artists working in Victorian England.  This group sought out ways in which they could include a naturalistic and detailed approach to art.  “Fidelity to nature was their rubric, through nature, in this case, meant the physical world, and fidelity a self conscious effort to render faithfully what their eyes saw- color, shape, and number, leaves on a tree, blades of grass, threads in a carpet, words on the spine of a book or on a sheet of music or in a newspaper” (The Pre Raphaelite and Their Circle xiii).  The Pre Raphaelites also valued…

Edward Burne-Jones was a talented artist who created all different types of art from paintings, book illustrations, stained glass, jewelry, painted furniture, watercolors etc.  He also enjoyed creating sequences of images that all were part of one narrative (Newall). This is seen for example in the St Frideswide stained glass and experience of designing illustrations for The Earthly Paradise and during the 1860s when he created a cycle of paintings on the theme of St George that included seven paintings (Newall).  This type of style shows his ability to display a certain theme at…

The style of the Pre-Raphaelite Circle primarily centered around aestheticism, a style of art deviating from modern conventional attitudes (Dennis 2). Its doctrine revolves around one’s private utopia, focusing on perceptions of perfection and artistic ideals (Dennis 2). Many aesthetic pieces challenged cultural and societal norms, particularly related to sensuality and morality. The aesthetic characteristics of art from the Pre-Raphaelite Circle encompassed deviations from the status quo, representation of middle-class authority, and sensuality of men and women (Dennis 4). Additionally,…

Sidonia van Burke is a watercolor and gouache on paper painting created in 1860 by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, an artist of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. The painting focuses on the portrayal of Sidonia von Bork, a Pomerian noblewoman executed for witchcraft, as described by the story Sidonia von Bork: Die Klosterhexe (Sidonia the Sorceress) by Wilhelm Meinhold.

Sidonia von Bork was the daughter of a noble family, which Burn-Jones depicts through details in Sidonia’s attire. Her extravagant dress implies her upper-class status. The webbing detail gave the dress an…

The Beloved was inspired by the Song of Solomon or the Song of Songs. The Song of Solomon is a biblical text in which a man and woman exchange love poems. (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica) The poems describe the beauty of the woman, who is the groom’s object of affection. The text has been interpreted as allegorical, dramatic, cultic, and literal. The allegorical interpretation states that the text is a metaphor for God’s love for Israelites. (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica) The dramatic interpretation states that the man and woman are enacting a dramatic love story through…

Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti was born in London on May 12th, 1828. (Ash 7) His father, Gabriele Rossetti, was obsessed with Dante Alighieri, so he gave his first-born son the name of Dante. (Ash 7) Rossetti realized his passion for poetry and painting early in his life, so he decided to pursue both. His decision was fully supported by his parents, which was liberal for the Victorian Era. (Ash 7) In order to study the arts, he went to Sass's, a preparatory school for Royal Academy. (Ash 7) He went to the Royal Academy in 1845, and he left before his twentieth birthday. (Ash 9) He studied…

The painting entitled The Lady of Shalott was done by John Waterhouse in the year 1888. It is based on a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. The poem is about a river that people sail on their way to Camelot. There are disagreements over what the painting and poem’s overall message is. However, there seems to be a universal consensus that it highlights the connection between life and art. The painting itself is based specifically on the fourth section of the poem. This particular section follows a woman travelling on a boat. Like other travelers on the river, she is on her way to…

There are a myriad of political events that occurred in England post-1860’s. It was during this era that political parties in parliament saw an increase in “party-loyalty”. Between the 1850’s and 1890’s, parliamentary political parties became much more unified. Parties also went through changes in size. According to researchers, this had an influence on legislative decisions. There were also some changes in the ways voting was conducted. Parliament ensured that the “Ballot Act of 1872” was passed. This act ensured that a citizen’s vote would remain anonymous. It was an attempt by…