Pre-Raphaelites Reviewed

Pre-requisites for enrolment

No previous knowledge required.

Content of Course

1. Introduction: What makes a Pre-Raphaelite Painting?

This introduction to the course raises the question of how ‘recognisable’ a Pre-Raphaelite painting is as well as introducing the key members of the Brotherhood.

2. Painter & Prodigy : John Everett Millais

The oeuvre and career of the youngest member of the Brotherhood is discussed in its various stages.

3. The ‘True Pre-Raphaelite’: William Holman Hunt

This class explores the oeuvre of Holman Hunt sometimes dubbed the ‘truest’ Pre-Raphaelite as he arguably diverged the least from the group’s ‘Manifesto’.

4. Everything in Focus: The Pre-Raphaelite Landscape

The Pre-Raphaelite approach to landscape painting is explored highlighting its persistent attention to detail and accuracy and insistence on what became the dictum ‘Truth to Nature’.

5. Dante & Beatrice: The Early Paintings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Rossetti’s early paintings are highlighted from 1848 until his divergence away from the Brotherhood’s aims in 1859.

6. Aestheticism & Beyond: The Mature Paintings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Rossetti’s mature career is focused upon highlighting his contribution to what has been dubbed the ‘Aesthetic Movement’ with its focus upon beauty and ‘Art for Art’s Sake’.

7. Pre-Raphaelite Women Artists

The paintings of Elizabeth Siddal are explored this week alongside her ‘Pre-Raphaelite sisters’.

8. Angels & Dreams: the visionary painting of Edward Burne-Jones

The course moves to the ‘second generation’ of Pre-Raphaelite painters beginning with Burne-Jones’s oeuvre with its emphasis upon escapist vision and otherworldliness.

9. William Morris and the Arts & Crafts Movement

William Morris’s role in and contribution to Pre-Raphaelitism is discussed as well as the link with Arts & Crafts ideals and design.

10. John William Waterhouse & The Pre-Raphaelite Legacy

Can Waterhouse be classed as a Pre-Raphaelite? This final class discusses the influence of the original Brotherhood on painters working towards the very end of the century and beyond.

Teaching method(s)

Lecture-based with some discussion, using images, music and short film and documentary clips.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Identify and interpret key Pre-Raphaelite paintings and recognise the key members and associates of the group;

• Think critically about the various meanings and scope of the term ‘Pre-Raphaelite’;

• Assess what gave rise to the founding of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and its persistent ongoing influence on art and culture.

Sources

Core Readings

Essential:

• Rosenfeld, Jason, 2012. Pre-Raphaelites. London: Tate Publishing.

• Birchall, Heather, 2010. Pre-Raphaelites. London: Taschen.

Recommended:

• 2012 The Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant Garde (exhibition catalogue). London: Tate Publishing.

• Prettejohn, Elizabeth, 2013. The Cambridge Companion to the Pre-Raphaelites, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Barringer, Tim, 2012. Reading the Pre-Raphaelites. Yale CT: Yale University Press.

• Prettejohn, Elizabeth, 2000. The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.

• De Cars, Laurence, 2000. The Pre-Raphaelites: Romance and Realism. London: Thames & Hudson.

Web Sources

http://www.preraphaelites.org/

http://www.rossettiarchive.org/

http://www.pre-raphaelitesociety.org/

http://www.victorianweb.org

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pre-Raphaelites/148464315169461

Class Handouts

These will be provided featuring image list, bibliography and further and recommended readings as well as occasional chapter excerpts.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.