Page 17 - History 2020

initials PRB. This was the first time these appeared on a painting and, at the time,

nobody understood what they meant.

The Annunciation,1849-50, Rossetti, Tate Britain. In this well known event from the
Bible Rossetti has imagined what it would have been like in Nazareth at the time.
Mary is dressed in a simple shift and the angel Gabriel does not have wings. It
presented a very different image from the classic Renaissance depictions. However,
traditional symbolism is still present with the dove depicted as the Holy Spirit and the
lily pointed directly to Mary's womb to signify the conception.

Christ in the House of his Parents, 1849-50, Millais, Tate Britain, is considered to be
the most provocative of the Pre-Raphaelite works. Millais has taken a well known
biblical scene and presented it in a modern way. It depicts the figures of Christ, Mary
and Joseph set in the working environment of the carpenter’s workshop. When first
exhibited it provoked an explosion of outrage. Charles Dickens said that Christ looked
like 'a red headed blubbering boy in a bedgown' and that 'Mary looked like a

prostitute from a gin shop in Paris'. The painting was radically different from the
traditional way scenes of the Bible had depicted before. Again the painting is still rich
in traditional symbolism and also displays amazing realism such as the sunburnt arms
of Joseph and the veins prominently displayed.

The work of the PRB was not well received but they hoped outrage might be their
pathway to fame. They decided to change from biblical scenes to those of modern
urban life and they had a fascination for the role of women in society. For example,

The Awakening Conscience, 1852, Hunt, Tate Britain, depicts a kept woman with her
lover, sitting at a piano in an interior. As the man plays a song, the woman starts up
from his lap and stares into the direction of the garden, as if she suddenly realises the
falseness of her life.
However, their saviour came in the form of the art critic and writer John Ruskin
(author of Modern Painters, 1843) who had unprecedented power in the art world

and was at the vanguard of cultural thinking. Ruskin believed art should have a moral
and spiritual message and he recognised this in the work of the PRB. He wrote a
letter to the Times in support and from that time on the PRB could do no wrong and
their future was secure.

Ford Madox Brown came into contact with the artists of the PRB but was never
actually a member. He became tutor to Rossetti. However he adopted the bright
colours and realistic style of the PRB. He produced Work, Manchester City Art
Gallery, which he began in 1852 and took 16 years to paint. It is a great example of

social comment on Victorian society. It depicts a group of navvies digging up a road