Truth and Beauty: The Pre-Raphaelites and the Old Masters
Movement unmasked This insightful book explains all that you need to know about the influential 19th century art faction
This in-depth reference book explains all you need to know about this influential 19th century artistic faction.
The more you learn about art history, the better an artist you become. But the number of truly great books about art movements are few and far between. So it’s a delight to discover this informative, accessible and impressively sized hardback. Even if you don’t know much about the Pre-Raphaelites, you’ll recognise at least some of their paintings from notebook covers, postcards and the like. But while the term Pre-Raphaelite is sometimes (wrongly) used to describe British art from the second half of the 19th century, it was actually a group of artists – led by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti – who were, paradoxically, trying to modernise art by drawing on its past; most obviously, Italian art before the time of Raphael.
Of course, it all gets more complicated than that, but this detailed volume both explains everything neatly and succinctly, and offers useful side-by-side comparisons of 19th-century masterpieces with their 15th- and 16th-century Early Italian and Dutch inspirations, so you can see exactly where the movement was coming from.
At £50, this book is certainly expensive, but it’s a fascinating read, so consider it a good investment in your art education.