What is: Pre-Raphaelitism?

Rebels. Revolutionaries. Romantics. The Pre-Raphaelites wanted to create a new kind of art, fit for the purpose of a new world.

Their intention was to build on what they admired from the past, not just the Old Masters they were being taught about but a counter-culture of heroes. Their influences ranged from Quattrocento artists to the painters and writers of their own age.

Carol Jacobi talks us through the subject matter and techniques you could expect to see in a Pre-Raphaelite painting. Through forensic attention to detail -- both visual and psychological -- a Pre-Raphaelite painting invites you to question the world in which we live.

This film is part of Brian Clarke's curated series, 'Cruising Culture'. He described the film as follows:

"Carol Jacobi has an enjoyable grasp of narrative – she has the ability to read the whole movement through the Pre-Raphaelites attention to detail, to hands or flowers. In a short film, she succeeds in sketching out the key factors that you need to know if you are interested in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and its individual personalities. She reminds us that they were the first modern movement, and it's easy to forget that, to see them only as Victorian caricatures. But they were the first modern movement, the first gang of ruffians to bombast their way into society with their dangerous new ideas."