The Pre-Raphaelites. Nationalmuseum, until 24 May 2009
In 1848 a secret artists' society was formed in London; the group went on to change the face of British art for good. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood found its artistic ideals in the early Renaissance, specifically in the works of Sandro Botticelli and Filippo Lippi - artists preceding Raphael (1483-1520), the great Italian whose art had come to be considered a certain point of reference and fundament in the subsequent centuries. The spiritual leaders of the association were John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt who advocated the view that art had to promote lofty and timeless ideals. One of the trademarks of Pre-Raphaelite painting was its frequent use of the principle of antithesis and presence of „eternal subjects" (death, love, etc.).
The Pre-Raphaelite exhibition currently open in Stockholm is the first Scandinavian and North European show dedicated to the phenomenon that has played such an important role in the history of British art. In all, the exhibition comprises some 200 works dating from the time often referred to as the Golden Age of British art.
Södra Blasieholmshamnen
www.nationalmuseum.se




